When the Sun Sets
by Saiyajin Princess Chichi
Summary: A young woman rules her people and protects her Kingdom in the face of violent rebellion seeking to eradicate her people. Upon meeting a young man and encountering the outside world will she be able to protect and save her people from those that wish to harm them most? Or will her decisions be the downfall of her entire race? K/CC, B/V, and yes of course it's got adult content! R/R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell dont own DBZ or anything of this or I wouldn't be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I'm sure that isn't too hard to figure out.

A/N: So to give you guys some insight, this is a story that I started about 10yrs ago (so I was 17 at the time), and I never got past the initial concept and the first chapter. I decided to not only revamp and rewrite the entire thing, I have it up to 3 chapters thus far and will post a new one every few days until I'm up to date with it. I'm not sure where I want to take it, or if I will stick with it. But I would really appreciate that you guys R/R, that will help me decide if I'm going to keep going with it, and if you have input on what direction to take it, I would love that too. This is just going to be a fun little project to give me a break between working heavily on all my other stories, most of which are about to be updated. So guys, Enjoy and R/R for me! Love ya bunches!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

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**When the Sun Sets**

**PROLOGUE:**

A petite figure shrouded in the darkness of the night air sat on the cold stone windowsill looking out a world that she genuinely felt didn't understand her, her shadow outlining her lithe form on the floor. These were the moments that she felt truly and utterly alone in the world, when the darkness of the night concealed her from others, not only was she isolated from the outside world, but from her own people as well. Despite this loneliness, the isolation created a calming cathartic solace that nothing else in her life could provide.

Even in the infinite loneliness that clung to her soul, she knew that there was one woman who would support her through anything that the fates had in store, no matter what the odds may be. Her best friend was everything she needed in her life and then some, she understood her in a way that no one else had ever been capable of despite the effort they may have put forth, in some ways she was her soul mate. But day in and day out the only thing her best friend was able to do was to watch her sulk in solitude. It was a desolate feeling that exuded from her being, it was almost suffocating and would certainly overwhelm most, of that she was completely sure.

Her dark shimmering hair cascaded down her pale slender shoulders in gentle waves covering her moon-kissed flesh from sight, the tips of her hair faded to exist just above her breasts. She tilted her head slightly and the moonlight caught the tear persuaded by gravity to make its way down her porcelain cheek leaving a wet trail in its path, clearly betraying her in the moment. Her best friend sat in her throne watching her weep she knew it was out of longing and pain, she also knew there was no way to comfort her. She had been trying for years to comfort the younger woman to no avail, and while she attempted to understand where the despair came from she was never able to pinpoint it. It was a sadness so deeply wound into the woman's being, entangled into everything that made her who she was.

This was a woman who could have anything and anyone she wanted within the reach of her kingdom, her wish was the command of her people, whatever pleased the woman, she could receive. She was a benevolent ruler, and it had served her well throughout the years as she had quickly earned the love and respect of all of her kind following the death of her mother.

"Hey Princess, stop crying and come here." She fought to hide the mildly sarcastic tone that laced itself into her voice.

She had long since forgone the formalities between them, especially when they were without the presence of others. Royalty and nobility they may have been, but that was not something that friendship bothered with, their friendship danced on the line of politeness and formality before quickly stomping on it and dismissing it. They instead had other terms of endearment for one another that would surely insult someone if uttered outside of the privacy of their space.

The petite woman slid off the windowsill with a lithe catlike grace that many could not manage even with significant effort, she approached her best friend closing the distance in a few short steps, her bare feet padding against the chilled stones beneath them. Plopping down on her best friends lap unceremoniously she received a grunted response to her added weight before leaning her head against the taller woman's shoulder, finally relaxing against her companion's chest. Bulma's hand circled on her back lazily in an effort to be soothing, holding her close against her, she wasn't versed in motherly and caring ways, but it didn't mean that she wouldn't at least try. It was what friends were meant for. Chichi leaned her face further into her friends shoulder and wiped her errant tears away with the back of her hand in a gesture most unladylike, sniffling in the process.

"Please don't snot on my nightgown, I would rather not have to get changed if I can help it."

"Shut up!" The petite of the two squeaked as she sniffled yet again, playfully smacking her best friend's forehead with the palm of her hand.

Every night it was the same exact cycle as the night before, and as it had been for years, a repetitious cycle that she didn't know how to break. Bulma would leave her office only to find Chichi missing from her bedroom, she would always find Chichi staring at the moon from the window in the throne room curled up and secluded from the world. Bulma knew that Chichi yearned for a life beyond the palace walls, she knew that she longed to belong and just to be accepted by the outside world and its inhabitants.

Chichi had been born the Princess of an ancient vampire race and had taken her rightful place as Queen following her mother's death, she hated it with every fiber of her soul, she would do anything to be free of the curse of being royalty and being what she was; anything to be able to be among the rest of earth inhabitants. Was her freedom something so horrible to ask for?

But outside the palace gates it was expressly a forbidden place only to be explored with great caution and wariness. The world beyond the walls of her palace and kingdom were not safe for their kind, only within the walls were they able to live out their lives safely as they pleased.

It was a well-known fact that Humans and Saiya-jins alike did not understand her kind nor did they care to, they just wanted to eliminate her kind from existence, to erase them from the earth simply out of fear and misunderstanding. Their species was the hunter, they needed to kill to survive and eat and to kill was often seen as the only way to survive. It was only a matter of survival. The Saiya-jin rebels had been searching for their palace but hadn't had any luck so far, which worked to their advantage, the longer they remained unaware, the better it worked for their kingdom. They hunted her kind by nightfall, forcing them to change their own hunting and feeding habits. The vampires were easily able to withstand the sun for short bursts of time which was something that the other races were not aware of.

Despite the inborn need for feeding Chichi had always had a strong disbelief in killing others, even if they were perceived as just food. It was something she ever preferred not to do in self-defense if she was able to help it. Chichi was truly a kind being, but she had locked up fears and anger of the world that had refused to except them.

Bulma on the other hand had seen, fought and killed many hunters to ensure her and Chichi's safety, it was another matter of daily life that didn't seem out of place within their strange little world. And while she knew that this blood being on their hands bothered Chichi greatly, Bulma was willing to protect them by whatever means were necessary.

Bulma was her lady and right hand woman, not to mention her best friend the two had been and always would be inseparable, forever together working as a team to not only run the kingdom, but to ensure the continuation and safety of their kind.

Chichi shivered, the night air made her crave for freedom, she wanted to be among other species, the animals, everything, the things she longed for were outside her reach. But knowing that the growing resistance was out seeking to capture and kill any vampire they could lay their hands on, she was well aware that this was not feasible. It would have to wait until dawn.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and of course I will tell you who.

A/N: So I'm not sure where I want to take it. But I would really appreciate that you guys R/R, that will help me decide what direction to take it, I would love that. So guys, Enjoy and R/R for me! Love ya bunches!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 2**

A loud banging could be heard throughout the hallways, each moment the noise getting louder and closer to the spacious throne room. It was quite the raucous commotion, the thrashing, yelling and voracious cussing drew the full attention of both women. Their heads snapped to the main doors of the throne room, as the heavy doors were thrown open with force. The captain of the royal guard and his soldiers unceremoniously threw a man into the room, he landed in front of the petite princess and Bulma with a thud before he managed to land himself in a crouching position. Both women looked to each other with curiosity, then to her guards for answers regarding the unruly late night visitor, but with eyebrows raised, unspoken questions written all over their faces.

"One of the Saiya-jin rebels broke into the castle Your Grace, I felt that you needed to be notified post haste." Christian shoved the other male closer to the women allowing Chichi and Bulma to handle the situation as they felt suitable. His authority meant nothing without the support of his Sovereign.

"Leave, let us speak with him when we need you we will request for you to return." Chichi's voice had taken on a confident commanding tone as her eyes met the captains for a brief moment. Her orders being nothing but clear to him, leaving no room for argument.

Chichi motioned for him to leave the captured man with a flick of her delicate wrist and go as she had instructed him, her pale thin hand showing him back out the door he had come through, her movements' fluid and calm as she gave her definitive orders. Chichi had the power to control her followers, she could easily bewitch them with the slightest motion or the simplest suggestion, but she knew this was unnecessary and used it as sparsely as she was able. Her normally calm and soft spoken demeanor often left Bulma to speak up for her and carry out her wishes, but tonight it seemed their Sovereign had found the voice she needed in the company of their captive.

Christian looked to Bulma hesitantly for reassurance, her harsh glance in his direction told him that he was to follow the orders of his Sovereign without another word or there would be someone to answer to later. He turned on heel, his long blonde hair moving behind him as he exited the room, shutting the large wooden doors quietly behind him. He stood his post just outside, awaiting and ready for any problem that could arise and any orders to carry out.

Chichi looked at the man crouched before them, her eyes trailing across his well-built body. He was definitely something to look at, his shoulders were wide, his arms muscle bound, the body suit showed off his musculature giving her a good idea of just what kind of power laid within the man. She carefully inspected the bruises and gashes she knew that he had gained during his intrusion, he had obviously put up a decent fight as the oozing gash over his left eye suggested, blood seeping down his forehead and into his field of vision. His wild black hair shot out in every direction seeming to be just as untamable as the man before her, his lightly tanned complexion illuminated by the moonlight shining brightly through the open windows. His black and white armor supported Christian's accusations; it held the crimson Saiya-jin crest on the left breastplate over his heart, the metal embedded into the heavy protective material that covered the man's entire chest and torso.

"Who are you? And why have you come and disturbed my home? What is your business here?" Her voice was firm and confident, but still soft and sweet as usual.

He raised his head but stayed crouched, he stood up to his full height to face them both in an act of defiance. He had no intention of going down without a fight, especially to two of these heathen vampire women.

"I am a Saiya-jin warrior, fighting with the resistance coalition, I was sent to find your castle on a suicide mission, seeing as I am in danger of getting sucked dry here." His voice was husky, and held a sarcastic tone that struck a chord within Bulma, how dare he be disrespectful in front of their Queen.

A soft smirk graced Chichi's delicate feminine features as her tongue ran slowly over her teeth stopping on the razor sharp tip of her pearl white fangs, playing over them momentarily. She would have audibly laughed at the audacious assumptions of the man standing defiantly before her, but she couldn't blame him for the ignorance his people fed him, he was a sheep following the herd and carrying out orders, a soldier of the ignorant masses. Even if she was unable to blame him, she couldn't help but find herself irate with him for his intrusion, it had been a peaceful night until he had so rudely trespassed in her home.

"When I asked whom you were I meant your name as well as your rank within your unit sir. I did not ask for a quirky response. Nor will I tolerate that smart mouth of yours." Chichi bit back at him, the softness leaving her voice completely as her eyebrows knitted together in irritation.

She slipped off her friends lap lithely, her small bare feet padding against the floor once again with each step she took toward the soldier, the cool stones would have sent a chill up her spine if her flesh didn't rival the icy temperature. She stopped in her tracks less than a foot away from his form, her eyes trailing up his body before their eyes locked on, a glimmer shining within hers. She stood close enough now to reach out and touch him if she so pleased, her fingertips could brush against his skin, her fangs could find their way to his supple neck. His awareness of this fact was not hidden, the fear emanating from him was palpable; she could hear his heartbeat racing in his chest, the blood rushing through his body, the fear had changed his scent completely causing her to shudder and fight back her natural instincts to strike out at him. His reaction brought a rush of energy into her body, her fingertips tingling with anticipation as she struggled to hush the onslaught her body was craving.

Chichi knew he was aware of the slight change in her demeanor, seeing the hunger dancing in her eyes he took a step away from her nervously in a small effort to put some space between them, this simply caused her to take another confident step toward him. Chichi was entertaining herself with his unease at her close proximity, her small frame outsized by easily a foot, how could such a brutish man be so intimated by a woman so seemingly delicate?

"My name is Kakarot, I have already previously stated my position." He bit back at her angrily, as far as he was concerned she needed to know nothing about him.

She sighed and took a step back from him giving him the personal space he so desperately desired. She resisted the urge to bring her hands up to her face in frustration at his defiance, she was in no mood to play with anyone tonight and his sarcastic attitude was certainly not making it easy for her to be as well-mannered as she wished to be with the handsome stranger.

"Why do you fear me? I have done nothing to you?" Her voice piqued in curiosity as she inquired with him for real answers, her head tilting to the side waiting for a substantial answer from him.

She sighed and walked back to stand beside Bulma, her black velvet dress fluttered with her every movement. He found that he could not remove his eyes from her perfect body and her curves as she moved, while he still feared her, something about her entranced him. She smiled and glanced down at what she was wearing when she felt his eyes following her body. Her dress was full length and the velvet black flowed down gently with her figure hiding her legs, it fit tightly across her chest the lacing crisscrossing across her full breasts, the low cut neckline showed cleavage but still left something to the imagination, the wide bell sleeve accentuating her well shaped arms. Her black hair blended with the dress and dark makeup that brought out her already richly colored eyes. He could have easily mistaken her for an angel with her movements and mannerisms, but every sense in his body stood tensed on edge reminding him that she was far from angel and closer to the devil. She was a killer, just like the rest of her people, their Queen would be no different.

"Your kind has killed many Saiya-jins, so many of our great warriors! You're bloodthirsty monsters and I refuse to lose my life to you!" Kakarot snarled and took a step another step toward she and the blue haired female.

She sighed and ran one hand along her neckline resting it where her dead heart was, a sardonic smile gracing her pouty pink lips.

"My dear I think you are mistaken. Your kind has been after my kind for much longer than you have been alive, your species made the first attack on my kind. I will not sit here and play some childish game with you to place blame! You have killed many of us without regret or remorse! So why should we take pity on you?" Chichi's tone had dropped as she glanced up at him with irritation, her control over her temper simmering beneath the surface.

Kakarot felt anger rise in his chest, he took the final step forward to face her before he could think through his decision completely. He was a full head and a half taller than her but this clear difference in size did nothing to faze her in the slightest, she may have been relatively shy and soft spoken but never in her life had she backed down at the sign of defiance and disrespect. There was no way she was going to allow him to intimidate or best her using his size or his snark. If he thought he could cause her to quiver in fear before him, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

"My twin brother Turlis did nothing wrong yet your kind killed him!" He raised his fist in her face to accentuate his point, Chichi calmly raised her hand and grasped his fist firmly before lowering it to his side. Her eyes locked in his dangerously, warning him that his next move needed to not only be calculated but that it may be his last.

"My dearest, your brother and I had been having a tryst for quite some time. You must not have been as close to him as you thought. Although a woman must defend herself when a man refuses to respect her honor." She batted her eyelashes and smiled innocently trying to add an element of sweetness to what she had just told him. Although the venom was thinly veiled beneath the sugar.

Kakarot's mouth dropped open, he was not only stunned but he was infuriated at the insinuation that his brother would have stooped to have an affair with such a monster. The Turles he knew was dedicated to their cause up until his death he had done everything in his power to eradicate the threat that was the Vampire race. His brother never would have betrayed the Saiya-jin race or their cause!

"I don't believe you wench!" He snapped at her.

Chichi perched herself on the wide arm of the large throne alongside of Bulma, allowing herself to relax for only a moment. In a childlike manner she swung her feet back and forth in front of her. Yes he may have her feathers quite ruffled, but being royalty she felt it inappropriate to show her temper in his company and fought to contain it.

"You're all savages! You kill us as food! It's sick that you enjoy it!" Kakarot snarled at her, irate with her lack of response to his scathing verbal attack.

Chichi leaned her head forward and looked down at the floor. She sighed, shaking her head at his blatant accusations, her upper lip twitching slightly with what sounded like a chuckle falling from her lips. Slowly her eyes raised to take him in, meeting his dangerously causing him to step back at the wrath he found within her.

"SILENCE YOU BASTARD!" For the first time Bulma heard Chichi swear out loud in the company of others, especially a male. The ire was evident in not only her tone, but in the way her body tensed. Despite her struggle to keep herself composed, the young Queen had her limits and she was not going to tolerate the blatant disrespect in her own home.

"You say I am an ignorant savage?! Yet you kill out of cold blood and fear. But still I cannot see if the savage one is me, how can there be so much that you don't know?" Her eyes had narrowed in his direction, her fists balled tightly by her sides, her knuckles flushing against her pale flesh. This man had crossed a line and she was not about to let it slide.

Kakarot looked her over with an almost blank stare trying to retort to what she had just said, he was not one to be at a loss for words or insults, but he was. Chichi hopped off of the arm of her massive throne and turned her back to him walking back to the window sill. Her hands pressed down hard against the cold stone, her head hung low as a feral snarl rolled out of her lips, her now bristled tail swished to and fro behind her showing her discontent in her companies behavior and line of questioning, more like his accusations. Never before had someone brought up such a rage in her, no matter the threats against her life or the attacks on her person, he had brought up a temper that she had long kept hidden from sight.

"You have a tail?!" Disbelief was obvious in his voice as was the cracking nervous tone that accompanied his new line of questioning.

Chichi growled low in her throat but didn't turn to face him. She could feel the appendage moving agitatedly behind her, cutting through the air in an almost vicious swishing motion.

"Yes I have a tail, is there a problem? Because if there is I can fix that problem for you this instant." She bit back angrily, a low growl rolling from her chest and landing at her lips as they quivered over her fangs. She remained facing out the window in an attempt to soothe her now frayed nerves. When she was met with stunned silence her head whipped to the side, glancing over her shoulder at him with her brows furrowed.

"Only Saiya-jins have tails though! Your kind does not!" She growled again and fluidly boosted herself up into the windowsill, perching her body in a crouch before she leaned her back against the cool stone and wood frame.

"Nothing is impossible dearest." This time Bulma answered for her, she decided that it was for the best. Sensing not only the stress radiating from her friend, but the rage that she was attempting to subside before she would snap.

"She's half Saiya-jin. No one said she's happy about being one of you mongrels, but she is despite what she feels." Bulma ran her hands through her blue curls and rested her chin on her hand, remaining reclined in the large seat of the throne.

Kakarot's inquisitive gaze darted between the two women, the one with the cool reserve and the other with the fiery intense temper, he was baffled by the discovery yet intrigued. Chichi's eyes glazed over once again with tears as she remembered what she had been told before her mother died, she shuttered at the thought of that day and what she had been informed. Although she felt the sadness overcome her anger, she would not allow this stranger to see her moment of weakness.

"That is quite enough! I demand silence from you both!" The other two beings in the room silenced when she snapped, she turned to them and was pleased when she realized that it had quelled the unpleasant conversation.

"All I know is now that you know the whereabouts and location of my palace I cannot let you leave, for that will put me and my kingdom in danger." Her voice had dropped, it was calm and cold which raised a fear in him he hadn't felt before. Kakarot realized he much preferred being yelled at to the cool heartless tone that had laced its way into her lilting voice.

Kakarot had every intention of responding but could only stutter, words seemed to fail him as he struggled to find a way to ask for his life without begging; this woman acted so calm with the issue at hand and clearly hadn't allowed it to upset her. He was quickly realizing that there was a fear for his life, and while he did want to survive there was no way that he would ever grovel for his survival to this beautiful monster before him.

"There are three and only three options, either you will be forced to stay here as my captive, the second option is that you are disposed of by either Bulma or my guards, or I'm forced to erase all memories of this place as well as myself. None of these please me too terribly, but I simply cannot allow you to walk out of here and endanger my people." She sighed and stared out the window into the crisp dark of the night.

"But I won't tell anyone of your whereabouts." Kakarot stated calmly yet confidently, hoping that he could win his freedom from her, he would worry about the rest once he had made it through the doors.

Chichi looked at him with eyes void of all emotion, her face unreadable as well. Entertained by what he claimed one eyebrow raised in disbelief, a small smile making its way to her moonkissed face and a giggle fell from her parted lips.

"I don't believe you my little pet, not for one moment." The sweetness in her voice was palpable, yet gave him cause to gulp audibly, her words didn't bode well with him.

Chichi hopped from the windowsill and stalked toward him like a cat toward her prey. Obsidian eyes locked onto the deep chocolate eyes of the significantly taller male before her. There was one other option that she knew of, it was not one she wished to use, but it seemed to outweigh the others in her mind. It was one that she would not present to him, but rather use on him.

Kakarot found himself lost in her eyes, their dark depths consuming him completely, he felt as if he could feel her inching her way into his soul, touching him without ever coming into contact with him. It felt intimate, almost too intimate and intrusive. A part of him screamed at him to break away from her, to run, to ensure his own survival, but he couldn't force a single muscle on his body to move an inch by his will. He was coming close to speaking up and arguing with the delicate beauty standing before him, but her words cut into his conscious mind and cleared his thoughts completely.

"You will tell no one of this place, you will tell no one of me. Do you understand my command Saiya-jin?" Her tone was stern yet calm, her face betraying no emotion as she stared into his soul for a moment.

"Yes, I understand" He responded, his voice monotone and his words without thought.

"Return here as you wish, return without threats, without aggression, but only in the dark of night. Come alone, bring no armies, bring no companions, if you bring anyone you shall suffer." He nodded his head to her in agreement, her eyes locked on his face occasionally meeting with his eyes.

"As you wish."

Chichi walked past him and pulled on the large iron handles forcing the door to swing open. Christian stood outside the door dutifully, it was clear that he had heard the entire happening and wasn't necessarily pleased. But as Chichi stood on tiptoes with her hands sprawled across his chest Christian received his orders to escort the Saiya-jin out and did not argue with her. Bulma shook her head at her friend's foolishness.

The captive followed her guard out of the room calmly and obediently, the doors clicking back into place behind them as their footsteps retreated down the long corridor. Finally silence fell upon the women and the tension eased from the air.

"You enchanted him Chichi, I fail to see why we didn't simply kill him." Bulma mused as she played her fingers over the intricate designs on the arm of the massive throne.

"There is more to him than meets the eye, I cannot pinpoint it myself. I left him with no options, despite any desire he may have to betray me, he will be unable to. It seemed a better option to spilling needless blood. Really Bulma, must we always be so brutish with our captives as to kill them?"

"Bulma he may be who the prophets told us of. He may either be the downfall of me and this kingdom or he will be a saving grace. I will not hesitate at the chance to create an ally in this world, do you understand me?" She spoke softly despite the definitive nature behind her words.

Bulma boosted herself onto the windowsill sitting across from Chichi. The large intricately designed stained glass window, which was usually shut to keep the elements from the room, was swung wide open, allowing a cool calming breeze to enter the room. The breeze brushed over their skin and played through their hair as they were finally able to enjoy the peace of the night.

"You were captivated by him Chi, I could see you fighting back the urge to reach out and touch him, ally my ass!" Bulma laughed heartily as she rubbed it in that her friend for once seemingly lusted after a man, a man she shouldn't have, but a man no less.

"No, that isn't what it is Bulma, I refuse to let the same thing to happen to me that happened to my mother. I won't be the victim. She wasn't a weak woman but she let her guard down. I will not fail my people and let a mere mortal destroy our race." Chichi looked at her through half open eyes, hiding what was running through her head. There was a deep seeded fear within her, and she would never allow anyone in the way that her mother did, not for herself and not for her kingdom.

"You know that will never happen to you, I would never allow it." She patted her friends back gently running her fingers over the smooth fabric of the dress.

Bulma motioned for her friend to follow her as they slid themselves off the windowsill and shut the window securely behind them. She led Chichi out of the throne room, down the dark and damask hallways and corridors towards the quarters they shared.

"It's almost dawn, you should be retiring. We do have business to attend to today you know." Bulma spoke caringly, knowing that her friend was not a joy to have present in meetings at any time, but especially not when she was stressed out and exhausted.

"Unfortunately, I do know, and just as unfortunately, I'm not tired at all." Chichi whined in response.

Chichi sprawled herself across the bed, her eyes fixated on the nearest wall studying nothing in particular, she was simply biding her time for the moment. The silence of the large elegant room was becoming too much to bare as the sky lightened slightly outside of the bedroom windows. Chichi's hearing took in all the small sounds, the birds outside, the doors in the hallway creaking open as others moved about.

Finally the sound she had been waiting on settled on her ears, the breathing of her friend slowed to nothing as Bulma's body slipped from her waking routine and finally fell into a deep slumber. The sun would be rising soon, Chichi knew she needed to be resting but found herself far too restless to lay still and close her eyes, she needed to think and simply be alone.

Chichi climbed out of bed as silently as she could manage, making her way to the door she opened it slowly, glancing over her shoulder she checked to ensure that she hadn't awoken her companion thus far. Shutting it behind her quietly the door clicked into place, she made her way back down the long darkened hallway, her small feet padding against the cool stone floor it had been a wise choice to not grab her boots, this had provided her with the stealth she required to avoid being noticed. Stopping momentarily she stared at the door to her guards chambers debating if she wanted to knock and interrupt whatever Christian may have been up to. She never minded his company as he was a good companion and always put her first, but tonight Chichi decided against this, she had other things dancing through her mind that she would not prove to be good company herself. Turning on heel she continued her venture through the palace, keeping her steps at a hushed tone so as not to call attention to herself.

She finally reached the thick wooden door that led outside to her destination she walked down the path, past all the rose bushes and pushed through the luscious curtain of vines hiding "her" pond, her small piece of mind and serenity. She grinned slightly as the moonlight reflected off the water, her white wicker swing hung over the edge of the pond and over the little wall of stones and flowers. Chichi stepped onto the swing carefully lowering herself to a sitting position, her hands grasped at the ropes that held the swing to the large willow tree that loomed over the stone walk and over the placid water in the pond.

Her eyes drifted shut as she swung her legs slightly the wind passed over her face with her motion on the swing, she could feel the moonlight shinning down on her face and sighed. Her dark eyes snapped open when she heard the tree above her rustle and caught a momentary glimpse of the wild black hair as well as a tail escaping her sight when he took to the air. A delicate smile graced her features, she took in a deep breath before a purr of satisfaction rumbled through her slender throat.

She stalled and took the time to look up at the stars and the moon, her heart ached so badly for true companionship, someone to help her through not only her day but to help her rule and take care of her when she needed it. Yes, she had Bulma who fulfilled all these duties to her, and she had Christian to warm her bed occasionally. Despite this, it still felt as if something or someone was missing from her life. Seeking that partner would be foolish and she knew it, a distraction was not something she needed, it would only serve to aid the rebellion in catching her off guard. This childish longing for love was easily overridden by her inborn responsibility. She had inherited this, and it was her burden to carry without question.

Glancing back up at the sky, she began tracing patterns among the stars, seeking the constellations and finding solace in their distantly glowing light. The stars might as well have been a non-kindred lover. If she couldn't have another being by her side, they would have to do, they served as a reminder that within her lifetime she was just as minuscule as the next, even if she would live long enough to see some of the stars fade from the sky. If she was destined to be alone until the stars died out, then so be it, she would never allow her kingdom to fall to fulfill her souls wish.

That was where she and her mother differed, and that was where she knew she would not fail.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and of course I will tell you who.

A/N: This chapter was not comfortable for me to write, but alas some ChichixOC was important for the plot to progress. I can promise there won't be much of that moving forward, although I'm not going to give you any hints as to how their relationship may develop, if it is able to.. So here is the much requested next chapter. Another is being worked on already and should follow shortly! Enjoy and R/R for me! Love ya bunches!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

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**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 3**

Chichi was bored beyond her wits and there was no denying that, she had been confined to meetings the entire day with her war council, while she was not interested at the moment she knew the importance of having plans and strategies where it concerned the rebel armies. It was a problem that needed to be resolved immediately, she forced herself to pay attention and discussed the matter at hand, the rebels were a danger that threatened all of her kindred; this was something that she could not stand for. Chichi glanced out the window to notice that the sun was starting to go down, tinging the sky with vibrant pink, orange and purple hues and dancing across the expanses of clouds. A tingling sensation began in her stomach, it would soon be her time to prowl, she would be free tonight to hunt as she pleased and the temptation to feed was drawing her attention away from the matters at hand. Shaking her head and attempting to refocus she promised herself that tonight the woods belonged to her, she needed to run, to hunt, to feel the ground beneath her feet and the wind brushing through her hair. Just the thought of it brought such an itch into her body, she wasn't sure that she could continue to sit still any longer.

"Your majesty, we can implement this strategy and be on the offensive against the rebels immediately."

Chichi didn't mean to shirk her responsibilities, or seem as flighty, as she was certainly sure that she must have, but the pull of the wild was calling to her. But in all honesty she hadn't been on her own hunt for sustenance in weeks now, and while it was certainly wonderful to have her meals brought to her, she had long since grown bored with it and needed to escape the mundane schedule of her day.

"I must be excused, I have another matter to attend to. I would like Bulma to sit in for me and consult me later." She stood quickly from her seat at the council table earning a suspicious look from Bulma and a few other council members. She received the nods of respect and immediately headed for the door as Bulma raised an eyebrow and prepared to question her companion's flakey nature.

Shutting the door behind her loudly she sighed and resisted the urge to lean against it and slide down to the floor, but right now her childish nature was not going to assist her in accomplishing what she had on her mind. She admitted to herself that she felt terrible about her less than appropriate behavior today, but she had been half asleep for a large portion of the meetings, the fact that she had rested so little in the past few days since meeting their intruder was certainly not helping her one iota. Taking in a deep breath, she took off into a sprint heading toward her quarters, the stairs seemed nothing to her under her tiny feet, as her boots hit every step and stone on the way there, not missing one and never stumbling in her course. As she arrived at the top of the winding stairs she took the last expanse of hallway at a breakneck speed, ran into her room and slammed heavy wooden the door closed behind her. Finally stopping in her franticness she walked to her armoire and threw the dark cherry wooden doors open, she tore through her clothing like a woman on a mission.

Chichi finally pulled out a bandeau top and full length riding pants, both black as night. The long pants would protect her skin against the brush and wooded areas she knew she would be spending her evening in. It wasn't that she needed it, her skin was tough enough to take a beating from the branches and whatever prey she may encounter. But to be honest she didn't feel like dealing with the lecture from Bulma if she returned and was found to be improperly dressed for a woman of her position, Bulma constantly lectured her on acting like the royalty she was, and personally Chichi couldn't always find it in herself to carry herself as such.

Chichi reached behind her and pulled the ties of the corseting on her dress, as the lacing came undone she could feel the pressure on her ribcage and waist lessen, she shimmied it looser and slipped it down over her hips allowing it to fall to the floor. The corseted bodice landed on top of pooled flounces of the skirt around her ankles, she stepped out of it and left it laying on her floor. Reaching behind her, she tied the bandeau top tightly around her bust, making sure that it was secure and wouldn't leave her exposed during her hunt, not that she minded. Chichi smiled and pulled the pants up over her thighs and tied them into place, the lacing at the front holding her in. Looking out the glass doors leading to her balcony, she sighed and sat down on her bed momentarily, her freedom was so close that she could taste it. She pulled off her more formal boots and slipped her feet into the more appropriate pair she wore to hunt. They were a treated hide of one of her kills that she had stitched together, she had added very little to the sole so that she would still be able to feel the ground beneath her. It would allow her to keep her agility and to be nimble on her feet as she sprinted through the woods.

Standing from her bed she rolled her ankles and stretched out her arms, her barely clad feet padding against the floor as she made her way to the balcony doors, she threw them open and leaned her head back at the rush of fresh air, reveling at the smell of nature, a smell that had evaded her throughout the entire day thus far. She was about to change that. Chichi stepped out onto the balcony and perched herself on the ledge before jumping to the tree right along side of it and made her way down to the forest floor in a few concise leaps. As her feet hit the soil she crouched down and let out a feral growl, her instincts kicking in and taking over her logic, tonight would be her hunt, and blood would be spilled.

It had only been about an hour, but had passed by quickly, her mind not registering time any longer, she rushed through the trees and brush, a scent caught her attention finally as she slowed herself to a near stop. She sniffed the air, there was prey nearby, the crunching of dead leaves approaching her cleared any doubt from her mind, she crept forward stealthily, keeping herself silent as possibly. Finally she stood to face something that was a meal to her, she fought back the growl that threatened to rip from her throat in anticipation, licking her fangs her wild side completely in control. Chichi faced the large buck in front of her and began to circle it, the saliva gathering in her mouth, her muscles tightened and her body aching for the rush of fresh blood and renewal. Just as she lunged at the buck, he caught sight of her and his eyes widened in fear as she sunk her fangs deep into its neck hitting the major arteries. Her logical mind urged her on and crept into her consciousness, she wrapped her arms around it's neck and wrenched to the side lightly with a sickening snap. She leaned her head back with her catch still latched tightly in her mouth, her fangs digging deeper in as the fresh blood seeped into her mouth, she continued to suckle greedily at the blood that oozed from the open wound coating her tongue and filling her mouth. Chichi continued to draw greedily from the wound pulling the blood from the warm corpse beneath her, her eyes rolled back in her head, the feeling of ecstasy racing through her veins, through her cold heart and fueling her muscles.

Her body shuddered as she released it, finally letting the large body of the animal fall to the forest floor; she dug her nails into the soil feeling the dirt in her palms as she crouched beside him. She fell backwards resting among the vegetation and dirt, she could feel the soil sticking to the blood that had escaped from her lips and fallen to her pants and stomach, Chichi licked the top of her hand cleaning excess the blood from it. She could feel herself slipping back into reality as she became completely aware of her surroundings and of her kill, her feral side once again burying itself deep within her. Bowing her head momentarily she thanked the gods and goddesses that this animal had given it's life to sustain hers, as many before him had, the deities had always been kind to her. She cracked her neck and grinned, climbing to her feet, sniffing the air she oriented herself to her surroundings and followed the most direct route back to the palace, her entire body throbbing with the newfound energy.

By the time she had gotten halfway home the night chill sunk into her bones causing her entire body to shudder, it was a feeling she adored, she only felt chilled by the night after feeding. Passing one of her old hunting grounds, she found her old cloak torn and tattered, still stained with blood, she picked it up and tossed it around her shoulders finding some warmth in the ripped fabric. It would have to do for now, it wasn't like the cold would kill her, it was simply inconvenient.

She arrived at the gate of the palace and sighed knowing Christian was going to be concerned about her, she had always told him that she would inform him of her hunts, but sometimes it simply slipped her mind. And while he was her guard she certainly did not consider him her keeper. Delicately reaching out, she picked up the heavy metal knocked and slammed it against the large wooden door, the sound resounding through the gate and into the chambers inside. She could hear Christian's voice booming from the other side demanding to know who had dared to approach at this time of night, causing her to roll her eyes. If they ever had visitors she would have to remember to place someone a little more amicable yet still capable at the gate.

"Christian, it's Chichi, I went for a walk." If that's what she could call it. The door swung open and Christian looked down at her like a scolding parent, shaking his head. She could only manage a mischievous grin up at him and shook her head yes.

He leaned in closer, pushing her back against the now closed door, his nose brushing against hers as his tongue darted out to lick a smudge of blood from her lips teasingly. Chichi was sure that if she felt differently, if Christian had her heart, this would be one of the moments that caused it to skip a beat, the moment that would leave her with what the humans described as butterflies in their stomach. But what she felt for him was carnal, purely sexual desire.

"As long as you had fun. I just want you to understand that you need to be careful." He chided.

He never pulled away, keeping himself within proximity to her that left them both desiring more. She leaned down and rubbed her cheek against his chest and purred like a kitten contented with a satisfying petting. Christian placed his fingers under her chin and brought her face back to his, capturing her lips with his before sinking his fangs into her lip gently, tasting the fresh blood that pulsed through her. She groaned against his lips, reveling in the feel of him, she never minded him being rough, as she knew that she had a tendency to inflict some damage on him.

"You tempt me so Chichi, you taste delicious, Now I wish to go for a hunt." He grinned down at her and nipped her neck as she pulled away.

"Go to hell if you think you're getting anything of what I worked for, you aren't hunting me tonight, but there is plenty out there for you to feed on if you so choose." She pushed him playfully.

"You're much more fun to hunt than any animal, and you know that. My prey doesn't make the noises you make when I get you underneath me." He snickered and reached out to pull her back to him.

That would have been the moment that she would have blushed if she had any shame in their actions together, as memories of their trysts came to mind. She was half tempted to leave with him and allow the gates to be low on man power while they went about carrying out the dirty thoughts they both had planned. She knew that this was an atrocious plan, but couldn't help but consider it for a moment. And in that moment, her spontaneity took over. There were other guards patrolling, and besides, his shift partner would be left here. They could handle things for a few minutes.

She wrenched herself from his grasp and pulled the heavy bolt off the gate, squeezing her body through the small opening she had made. A grin spread across her face as she looked back at his shocked expression.

"Tell Mikael to lock the gate behind us, I get a head start." And with that she was gone like lightning.

Christian quickly ran to grab his shift partner Mikael and told him that he was going hunting. Of course he wasn't giving them the details, but he gave them as much as they needed to know. He bolted out of the gate, hearing the faint slam of the bolt behind him as they secured the gates.

Sniffing the air like a hound, he figured her direction and took off after her with a franticness to his run, she would not get the best of him yet again this time. His dead heart didn't race, his blood didn't rush the way a human's would, but he ran with a ferociousness he hadn't felt in a long time. The leaves crunched under his feet, twigs and branches giving way under him as he moved between the trees. He could faintly hear her delicate footfalls ahead of him, but still hadn't gotten her in his sights.

Christian reached a small clearing, he could smell her here, her heavy scent lingering in the air, but he no longer heard any of her footsteps, her trail stopped here, he looked around carefully checking for her footprints, for any trace besides her scent that she had been here. He found none. He growled and turned to backtrack his steps, he would find her, he wouldn't let her get away, not with the need that he felt for her.

His back turned to the clearing as he attempted to discern which direction to hunt her in next. His thought was interrupted as she leapt from one of the branches over his head and landed on his back. The ground of the forest approached him quickly as she took him down, her fangs biting into the pale flesh of his well-muscled neck. He groaned as he attempted to dislodge her and roll over to face her, he succeeded after only a moment when she relented and let him go. Managing to move underneath her he rolled over underneath her as she straddled his torso.

The moonlight lit up her beautiful face, illuminating the trail of blood that dripped from her lips and to her neck. She grinned down at him, the corner of her lip tugging up to show her pearlescent fangs once again.

"I don't know my dear, I think I prefer the noises that you make when you're underneath me, because that was simply divine." A purr rumbled through her throat as she looked him over.

He rolled his eyes at her and sat up to meet her lips, tasting his own viscose blood on her lips. His tongue slipped into her mouth, warring with hers as she pressed into him with as much force, she nipped his tongue quickly eliciting another groan from his mouth. She wound her hand into his long blonde hair and held him into the kiss, enjoying the moment before this escalated. Pulling away she kept her hand in his hair and bit down on her own wrist before pressing it against his mouth, he drank from her greedily, his hips grinding up against hers as his member hardened with the renewed energy supplied to his body. In a frenzy he bit down on her wrist, sinking his fangs into her flesh causing her grip on his hair to tighten as she whimpered and hissed at the sensation.

"Christian, that's enough, no more." He looked up at her seeing her face flush lightly as the words were barely whispered to him.

Pushing his hips up against her again, she ground back down her heat reaching him through their pants. He grinned up at her, the blood dripping over his flesh, his tongue flicked out to lick her wrist, causing the wound to begin it's healing process before his tongue licked the blood away from his own lips.

Christian smiled down at her, his now loose blonde hair falling around his face as he leaned in to kiss her yet again. Her hands cupped his face momentarily before they traveled down the expanse of his chest between them, over the taut muscles and cold flesh. She flipped them over rapidly and straddled his lap before pulling him up to join her, moving him to sit on the soft floor of the forest. Christian reached down, his hands finding themselves at the waist band of the riding pants, he shimmied them lower before her hand stopped his actions.

His eyes met hers as she pulled back and rested her forehead against his, her midnight eyes clashing with his own sky blue color. Her head was spinning, she wanted him, but he had taken from her reserves, and it was leaving her feeling a bit drowsy.

"Did I go overboard?" Christian asked with concern in his voice as he brushed her dark tresses away from her face. He knew that he had a tendency to do so during their playtime. Feeding from her was much different from feeding, it tasted of her essence and drove him nearly mad every time, she was intoxicating.

Chichi nodded lightly and let her eyes slip shut as she rested against his firm body. She was tired and certainly was not feeling it any longer, while she lusted after him per usual, she just didn't have the energy to play with him tonight the way that she really wanted to. Usually their play time left them with questionable marks that often impacted her clothing choices for the following day, which she did not mind in the least.

"I can bring you back if you want and you can rest while I hunt. I'll bring more back for you to make up for it so that you can feed again, if you like."

"That would be wonderful, but I will go back myself. Remember, no one else is aware of what we do out here Christian, and it needs to remain that way." Her voice almost held a lecturing tone, and she could swear for a moment that Bulma had fallen out of her mouth.

"Yes my lady, I am aware. You know that I wouldn't put you in danger." If he had had a working heart, he swore it would have stung at her dismissiveness. Although he was aware that there was nothing more than carnal desire between them, he wanted to be able to give her the life that she deserved. Granted, he knew that she would never allow that, she had refused all of her suitors thus far, and he really couldn't see her changing her mind any time soon.

"Go feed Christian, I'll head back and keep an eye on the gates for an hour, just make sure you return." Christian nodded and stood from the ground with her in his arms before delicately placing her feet onto the soil beneath them. He backed away from her with a smile, her taste still lingering on his lips as he turned his back to her and disappeared silently into the darkened woods.

Chichi turned with a sigh and began walking back toward the gate, she would have to explain to her guards why she was out in the woods without an escort, which would undoubtedly earn her yet another lecture from Bulma about her safety. It was one she had heard many a time before, and admittedly was one that she would hear from her friend until the end of time.

She strolled back past her kill of the night, and while the sight of blood and fur everywhere was not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, she knelt beside the carcass anyway. Latching on in a new spot with her fangs, she drew more blood from the animal that she had already paid her blessings to. It would renew her yet again before she had to return to acting like a civilized woman once more begrudgingly. Pulling away from the throat of the buck she licked her lips as the rest of the remnants escaped them and dripped down her neck and onto her pale exposed arms. This would be enough to get her through the next few days at least if she did not expend her energy foolishly.

Arriving at the gate she steeled herself for a scolding, but served to remind herself that it was Mikael awaiting Christian's return and not one of the men who tended to be in cahoots with Bulma's watchful self. She raised the handle and knocked again, repeating close to the routine that she had only an hour earlier with Christian. Identifying herself to the voice from beyond the door, she found herself given admittance back into her palace.

Mikael smiled at her and for a moment she swore that he was well aware of what she and Christian did with their spare time. But she quickly dismissed the thought, as she implicitly had forbade Christian from informing anyone of their intimate involvement. But grin Mikael did, and it bothered her in that moment. It also struck her that she happened to be covered in the remains of her hunt, which surely did not help but contribute to the odd looks she was receiving.

"I do apologize Mikael, I've been out hunting all evening, so I am quite the mess at the moment. I will relieve you for the remainder of your shift, I know that you don't have much longer out here this evening." Chichi smiled back at him warmly.

"Your Grace? Are you sure that's fully appropriate? Lady Bulma has asked that we not leave you unattended here." He looked concerned for the moment as he considered her request.

"Mikael, I can handle myself for an hour here, just fine. And pish on what Lady Bulma tells you all. Now go, I want not another word out of you." Chichi successfully put the lid on his questioning of her, which was the intended plan. She did not need to be bossed around especially regarding what she could or could not do within the confines of her own home.

Mikael nodded and bowed in respect for his Princess and soon to be Queen before dismissing himself from the hallways within the guarded tower.

Chichi shut the door back into the main grounds of the palace behind him and walked up the stairs to the gate watchtower, she cozied herself down into the cot that had been set up for the daytime watch. She hummed to herself as she licked blood from her lips and arms, discovering it had dripped to her neck and was driving her insane. She reached for the small wash bin Christian kept on hand, she rung out the washcloth and wiped along her neck and arms, running the cool cloth across her stomach as well.

She settled down into the blankets after appropriately grooming herself to the best of her ability and found a comfortable spot on the well worn cot. Her eyes slipped shut as she kept herself alert, allowing her body to rest itself while she awaited the sound of Christian at the gate.

The thoughts of the rebellion played through her mind, she was surely going to need to be more careful in her trips outside of the palace in the coming months if things were to escalate the way that her generals and the rest of the council were predicting. The Saiya-jins had become restless and had been taking out any of the vampire kind they came across without hesitation. It was not that she worried for her own safety, but moreso that the rash actions of her people if any violence were to be directed at her. Her people had been fiercely loyal to her since the passing of her mother, their loyalty crossing over into a protectiveness that she did not feel necessary, but most certainly would not condemn.

She sighed in exasperation, it had only been an hour and she was dying to get back to her room. The knock that rang at the gates had certainly not come nearly fast enough for her liking. Upon hearing one of the other guards opening the gate to allow Christian back within their sanctuary, she got up and out of the tower and headed back into the grounds of the stronghold, her patience was wearing thin and she did not want to deal with anyone other than Bulma for the remainder of the evening. It wasn't that she was in a bad mood or anything, no, quite the contrary, she was in a wonderful mood, but it was one that she much rather share with her companion. Despite her overtly social nature, she often found herself to be quite the introvert, although this had only taken root in her after her mother's death and her subsequent coronation.

Chichi made her way through the grounds, passing through the now empty marketplace, her eyes taking in the vibrant community that she had managed to build and uphold since her mother's passing. This was her legacy and it was not going to be destroyed and forgotten beneath the rubble of history by those on the outside.

Pushing her way through the heavy wooden doors, the guards stood steadfast at their posts, greeting her only with the formality of 'Your Grace' before she continued on to her destination. In that moment she was glad that she had never allowed her guard to stand by her night and day, how smothering a sensation that would be! Although she knew if Lady Bulma were to have her maternal way with things, that would be exactly the orders in place.

Finally arriving at her quarters, she leaned her weight against the door for a moment, half expecting a lecture on the other side awaiting her. Straightening her spine like the lady she was she stood tall and pushed her bedroom door open, only to find exactly what she was expecting. Bulma sat perched amongst the plethora of pillows on her bed, delicately thumbing through the densely packed text of some ancient book, awaiting her impudent charge.

"You're late once again Chi-chan." Bulma chided, never looking up from the pages of her book. She didn't need to make eye contact with her companion, the disappointment was evident in her tone.

"Sorry _Mother_, I wasn't aware that I had a curfew to abide by."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, I don't mind you being out and about hunting at night, but you need to be mindful that we are at war and there are precautions that you as our sovereign should be taking. If something happens to you, this kingdom will crumble, as you have refused to choose a successor." This time she did look up at her, her, placing a tattered leather bookmark between the pages to save her place.

"You know I don't mean to nag, but if that's what it takes to be the best advisor to you and to keep this kingdom running smoothly, then nag I shall!" Her voice piqued just as her left eyebrow did. While she was a lady it didn't mean that she would dull her attitude down just to appease her Queen.

"I get it, I really do Bulma. But to have another cold meal delivered to me, well it was a thought that made me want to leap over the balustrades of the guard station and end my suffering." Chichi dramatically brought her hand to her face to bring her point home, she needed to illustrate her exasperation to her best friend in the hopes that she would comprehend the reasons behind her disobedience for the evening.

"Chichi, you jump from them all the time. And per usual you would have landed safely, so cut the theatrics my dear."

"Bulma, you do suck the fun right out of things. Just so that you're aware." Chichi looked over her shoulder as she finished admitting her defeat in the face of admonishment.

Bulma caught her signal and followed her toward the bathing chambers. "I know I do, speaking of fun things, we do need to plan your actual public coronation ceremony. You may be Queen by title, but we need to plan your event for the kingdom to make everything official."

"Yes, yes I know. But do you think that's smart at this moment? With the Saiya-jins waiting for the proper moment to attack, wouldn't a socialite event simply put their plan together for them?"

Chichi started the water flow into the illustrious marble pool, allowing it to fill for them as she stripped off the bloody clothing that she was wearing from the hunt, dropping them to the floor unceremoniously in a pile. Lowering herself into the pool she found herself a spot on the bench within the scalding water and began slowly rinsing the blood from her moonkissed flesh. She could only think that she truly did not feel that the kingdom couldn't wait until some of the turmoil had been settled, the last thing she wanted was to bring lambs to the slaughter for the brutes outside of their walls.

She glanced up at Bulma who was busy stripping her own clothing off, although much more refined as she folded it and placed it aside for later before following her companion into the marble pool. Bulma delicately stepped down the stairs and found herself a comfortable spot. Her eyes drifted to Chichi as her Queen scrubbed at herself, dunking her hair into the water and scrubbing at her mane as well, clearly ignoring the topic at hand.

"You know tradition dictates that it is held within a year of the death of the previous ruler, that being your mother, you are expected to uphold this tradition and present yourself to the people. As well as selecting a successor before your kingdom." Bulma wanted to roll her eyes, she was well aware that her obstinate Queen damn well knew all of this, but getting her to adhere to tradition had never been easy, even in her mother's presence.

"I am well aware Bulma, but I feel that the circumstances do not always fit well with what is written in some ancient text, long since created by my ancestors. They didn't have the worry of war hanging over their heads the way that we currently do!" If Chichi was able to hit something in the moment, she would have, her temper bested her when she knew that the choices she would make were more beneficial, being constrained by tradition did not suit her well.

"Besides we all damn well know that you will be named my successor until the day that I produce an heir, and if that day never comes, then it shall be you and your children that rule in my stead." Chichi sighed and dipped her hair back into the water once again before lathering the lavender castile soap into her hair

"I will be planning this event for the month's end, you will attend, and you will be on behavior appropriate for royalty. Your mother asked that I keep you in line, and little miss that's exactly how this is going to work. You can either agree, or we can do this kicking and screaming your royal pain in the butt." Bulma crossed her arms across her naked breasts and glared at the younger vampire.

"But Bulma I…." She wanted to protest with every iota of her being, but was cut short once again.

"I will handle proper security and planning. You should know that by now. I'm your best friend, for once can you have some faith in me and let me shoulder some of your weight?" It was Bulma's turn to huff in frustration, she had never lead Chichi wrong, so she couldn't understand why she found it so hard to trust her judgement.

Chichi finally relented, she wasn't going to verbalize it, but she would give in. She hated seeing Bulma looking so betrayed by her. It wasn't that she didn't trust her, but she felt that the duty of protecting her people while simultaneously upholding their traditions was hers and hers alone. Although she had to admit that Bulma had always shared her burden, and happily at that.

Chichi couldn't deny that while she often felt alone, she would never truly be alone or abandoned. They were each a half to a heart that worked together, strongly, efficiently and without faltering. For that she was eternally grateful.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, besides how bad could her coronation ball possibly be?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: So I'm pretty sure this is the fastest I've gotten chapters out for any story in the history of ever! This chapter does have adult content, so if you aren't comfortable with that, I would not proceed. But things will keep moving forward. I may even have another chapter out before weeks end. Enjoy and R/R for me, feedback is much needed and welcomed! Love ya bunches!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 4**

Kakarot stood before the rest of the generals and his Prince, reviewing the minimal intel he was able to return from the vampire kingdom with. Alas, much to his dismay, he had not gathered much for them in his opinion. But his Prince seemed pleased that he had been able to infiltrate and walk out alive, despite his lack of memory of the Queen and his time within her palace.

Her face vividly lingered in his mind, her eyes piercing his very being, yet every time he opened his mouth to describe her to Prince Vegeta he completely drew a blank and his memory became dizzyingly blurred. It was becoming frustrating to him, he had been sent for intel and he had been absolutely unable to provide it when the time arose.

Vegeta on the other hand did not feel that his General had failed in the least, they had been unable to send in any of their men successfully on missions in which they returned, at least not intact and of right mind. Many had returned brain washed, dead, incapacitated or simply not at all. He assumed that the soldiers who never returned to their ranks perished on their missions, proving without a doubt that the vampires were as dangerous as his predecessors claimed them to be.

Vegeta dismissed his Generals for the evening and watched as they retreated to their quarters, their base being locked down for the evening as a measure of security. All save one was let go.

"Kakarot, I request you to stay behind, I have things to discuss with you." He voice was calm and demanding.

A nod was received in response as he stopped in his tracks and waited the departure of the Generals from the small council chamber. His mind was reeling as he shut the door behind him and turned back to his Prince and soon to be King, he wished to fulfill his service to his liege and intended on doing so by any means possible.

"You have done well. It is good to see your return." He took his white gloves off as he spoke and placed them on the tabletop before him.

"Thank you Your Grace, it is good to be back, for now." Kakarot bowed his head to his sovereign out of respect.

"For now. Yes, you are aware that in another days' time I will be sending you back out. Are you able to provide the coordinates for the location of their palace?" Vegeta sat himself at the head of the table, his chin resting on his fist as he stared over the map laid out in front of them. The ground that they had covered was marked off and suspected areas had their boundaries marked off with pins stuck into the ancient wood of the table.

"No sire, I cannot…." Anger and frustration seeped into his tone, his eyebrows knitting together showing his displeasure.

"Stop being so fucking formal Kakarot, you know that irritates me." Vegeta smirked over at him, earning a slight chuckle from his younger friend.

"Sorry Vegeta, it's sorta become habit at this point." Kakarot plopped into one of the massive wooden chairs and stared out over the map as well, his brain attempting to track from which direction he came and how long his travel had taken him.

He dropped his head into his hands as a pang of pain shot through his temples as he began to recall villages and natural landmarks that indicated where he had been traveling to and from. The pain seeped into his vision as everything went black momentarily, he could hear a faint whisper in his head yet struggled to grasp onto the message. Just like that, his memory of the mission was once again wiped clean like footsteps washed from the dirt during a storm.

"I have flashes of memory of the palace, I have flashes of her face, of her beauty, but they are momentary before I'm blinded and they're gone once again. It's infuriating that I can't provide anything beyond that." Kakarot slammed his fist onto the table as his forehead remained cradled in the palm of his other hand, urging the pain to subside from his mind.

"Her beauty? You must really be losing your mind Kakarot." Vegeta stated gruffly, his voice almost growling out at the idea.

"No, she was beautiful, petite, curves that never end. She's dark and somehow angelic. It all doesn't fit together with our image of them." He hissed in pain as his head throbbed again, the vision of her that lingered in his mind slipping from his memory once again.

"Don't go falling in love with a monster you idiot, they killed your brother. Keep their magic from your mind." This time Vegeta's voice rose, a small bit of ire for the other kind clear in his tone.

"Gee thanks asshole, you think I'm not trying. Certainly not falling in love, although I would gladly do unspeakable things to her if the situations were different." Kakarot managed to look up from under his wild hair, his dark eyes meeting with his friends for a moment as he smirked darkly, earning back the same smirk in return.

"Speaking of your brother….." Vegeta trailed off and awaited an answer from his comrade.

"If I recall correctly, he was having a tryst with their Queen. I cannot remember any other details, or even if that is right honestly." Kakarot shook his head, attempting to pull any bit of their conversation back into his mind.

"So we had a traitor in our midst?" The Prince asked calmly.

"No, I don't think so. It seemed that his relationship with them did not go beyond whatever affair that he had with her." Kakarot closed his eyes against the onslaught of pain in his head. But at least he was able to recall that she hadn't stated that his brother was an informant.

"Seems like the enchantress couldn't erase everything from your memory. Good job Kakarot, you've proven more successful than you realize." Vegeta smirked, even these little pieces of information were far more than anyone else had brought back with them ever.

"Yea well, I would feel a hell of a lot more successful if I didn't feel like I had a hangover constantly. Kind of takes away from the victory." He smiled bitterly and stood from his spot at the table, slowly walking toward the door, feeling a queasiness settling in to his stomach, his entire body fighting him harder the longer he attempted to recall anything from the mission.

"Go to bed Kakarot, we're training in the morning, I expect you to be awake when I am. You're getting your ass handed to you as a welcome home gift." Vegeta shouted to him through the door as he retreated from the room. Grumbling rumbled from his chest as Kakarot waved him off dismissively, not exactly caring that he had been issued an order.

Kakarot trudged down the damask hallway toward his own quarters, in the hopes of finding some solace and maybe some level of sanity within his own space. His footsteps echoed through the hallway with each heavy bootfall against the ancient stones beneath them. The echo resounded through his head sounding much louder against the walls than they actually were, causing him to growl out loud in discomfort. He stumbled past a few guards receiving nothing but smug looks, he realized that their assumption was that their General was intoxicated, and at the moment he wished he was, maybe that would ease the throbbing pain in his head.

He arrived at his room, and leaned his weight against the door, groaning momentarily before shoving the heavy door open. A flash of a memory ran through his head, a palace he had seen before, just as old and worn by time, and just as elegant as that of his own people. Another jolt of pain tore through his head, this time bringing him to his knees as his body convulsed in shock. For a moment he swore he could smell her, the moment he was able to, he came to attention, crouching in a fighting position as he scanned the room and found it just as empty as he had left it.

Struggling to get back to his feet he walked further into his room, finding that all the lanterns in his quarters had been lit for him prior to his arrival. While it was nice to come home to an up kept space, the idea that anyone had been there without his knowing made his skin crawl, especially considering where he had just returned from.

He found his way to the dry sink against the wall and peeled away the wax seal and popped the cork on a bottle of whiskey before taking a large swig of it, downing it and enjoying the slight burn that it left behind in his throat. Continuing to chug back the liquor he could feel the sweet relief from the pain in his head as the slight tingle settled into his stomach. Recorking the bottle he placed it back in its spot for later. This feeling was much better than the prior feeling he had been coping with for the past two days since his mission had failed.

There was an audible puff of air from the mattress as he fell onto the king sized bed, he was much more exhausted than he cared to admit to anyone. While he hadn't physically been drained by the mystery Queen he had encountered, he was surely feeling mentally and emotionally drained by her. It had been a frustrating encounter to say the least for him. As a military man who had never before failed his King in any mission, this left him feeling inadequate and irate. The worst part for him was that he couldn't even remember her face at the moment, but he could remember the searing fear that she had brought up from the depths of his soul. A fear that no one had ever created in him before in his life and he doubted would ever be able to create in him again.

Kakarot sat up long enough to unclip the armor from his chest, taking his cape away with it and unclipping the armor from around his waist before peeling away the spandex body suit he wore underneath. Everything was dropped on the floor without a care, he would worry about that later. The tip of his tail snuck out from underneath his naked body to flip back and forth in agitation as he laid back on simple white down comforter. His eyelids became heavy as he continued to ruminate on the enigma that now plagued him, the swishing of his tail only serving to further lull him into a state of calmness. They opened and closed a few more times before his vision went out of focus and his consciousness slipped away from his mind.

The shuttering of eyelids didn't take too long as his sleep took over him, a vague dream world taking shape around him. It didn't feel disorienting or frightening, there was a sense of comfort, a sense of serenity in this place that he couldn't put his finger on. His dreams were quite enjoyable to him as they often let him revisit past battles and conquests, they gave him a lack of a sense of control, whereas his day to day life required the utmost control and focus at all times.

As he laid sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, he realized there was a gauzy black canopy hanging over his head. His eyes traveled lower to find himself just as naked as he had been when he dozed off. But he quickly found that he was not alone, another small pair of feet were tangled between his own legs, his eyes tracing back up over the figure next to him to find a raven haired goddess laying alongside of him, her hair draped over her face as she rested her head on his shoulder, her naked flesh pressed against his side, her chest moved slightly when she took in shallow barely present breaths.

Kakarot couldn't help but smirk as his free hand not tangled around her own petite shoulders moved to push the silken hair away from her pale face. Before he could accomplish his goal and see her, she was jolted awake and in a flash was on top of him, straddling his waist as her hands pinned his wrists together between them. Her delicate hands grasping tightly around them both with ease.

"Kakarot? What are you doing here?" She asked him inquisitively.

He attempted to wrench his hands from her own, failing to understand why he struggled so with regaining the upper hand over her. She glanced down and released his hands before tilting her head so that her eyes could meet his. And meet his they did. The dark chocolate almost black depths locked on to his and held each other in place for a moment. His breath hitched in his throat, he recognized the naked beauty straddled over him. The familiar controlled tingle went through his body, much as it had the last time her eyes had locked on to his.

"I don't know, what are you doing here? This is my dream, my room." Kakarot's mind told him to be afraid, but his instincts pulled back, restraining him from reacting against her.

"No, I'm afraid that you're in my room." She pouted down at him for a moment.

His hands found their way to her voluptuous hips, this was after all a dream, he had nothing to fear here. Worst case scenario, he would wake up and fall back asleep in due time without her presence. She gasped when his thumbs began to trace small circles on her hips teasing her flesh, her reaction eliciting a smirk out of him. One hand traveled up the plane of her toned flat stomach, up between her breasts before finding one and kneading it in the palm of his hand. She arched toward his touch and whimpered at the contact, still staring down at him tentatively.

Kakarot's other hand found it's way to her other breast, providing it with the same attention the other was receiving. He finally found it in himself to sit up beneath her, leaving her sitting in his lap as he moved to take one of her now hardened nipples into his mouth, his tongue playing small circles around it and switching off to the other. After all he wouldn't want to leave her feeling neglected. She took in a ragged breath and pressed down against his quickly hardening length, grinding her warm core into him, earning herself a groan from his pre-occupied mouth.

His lips left her full breasts and moved up, kissing along her collarbone to the pillar of her neck. She quickly grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips, her fangs pricking at his bottom lip before her tongue darted out begging entrance to his mouth. He granted her the access she asked for and his tongue met hers, her delicate tongue twirling around his and battling him for dominance of the kiss. He pulled back and bit down on her bottom lip, tugging lightly and finding the delicious little noise that left her mouth to be absolutely divine.

Slipping one hand between them he found the wet warmth between her legs and delved his middle finger into her, the ball of his calloused hand rubbing against the sensitive button toward the front of her womanhood. She pressed down against his hand and allowed him to start a rhythm as his finger moved within her, her back arching as she lifted her hips away from his. But she was not one to be outdone and reached down between them, her slender fingers wrapping around his thick length, pulling a groan from his lips, she stroked him like she had known the intricacies of his body for ages.

She stopped his movements with her free hand and her eyes met his once again, she placed the head of his member at her now slick opening.

"Kakarot, I want you to say my name." It was not a whisper, it was not a request, it was a firm demand from the beauty that was kneeling over him.

He didn't get the chance to respond, she slowly rubbed him over the lips of her womanhood, teasing him momentarily before she slipped him inside of her and impaled herself on him completely. He threw his head back against the pile of pillows behind them, trying not to completely lose himself in the feeling as she began to pump up and down on his member. She moaned herself and continued to move thrusting him deep within her, taking control of their movements together. Her nails dragging down his chest, leaving a trail of swollen red marks in their wake.

Kakarot sat up back up and allowed her to wrap her legs around his well defined waist. His hands found her hips once again and began to assist her, now moving her up and down over him, his hips thrusting up to meet hers each time as she moaned out. He could feel himself getting closer, her tight slick walls hugged every inch of him, driving him completely mad. She was intoxicating, unlike any woman he had ever had before. Her long velveteen tail had found its way around his thigh, wound tightly around him as they moved together. His own tail had betrayed him wrapping securely around her waist, pressing her breasts tighter against his chest as he thrust in and out of her. His lips met hers again in a frenzied kiss, he wasn't sure how long he could hold out with her soft velvet walls beginning to convulse around him.

She pulled away from the kiss and leaned her head toward his shoulder, and in the heat of the moment he didn't bother to question it. He heard her moan against his skin while she kissed up his neck and nibbled on his ear before whispering to him.

"Say my name Kakarot." His name came out in a gasp as he filled her once again with a slow deliberate thrust.

His eyes almost rolled back in his head at the husky tone in her voice, the lust clearly evident as she moaned louder and thrust down on him a bit harder. He could tell she was going to come for him, and the thought alone had his cock twitching and ready to go. She opened her mouth and gasped a few times, the shockwave of her orgasm taking over her body, her inner walls tightening around him. He groaned out just as she came, and spilled himself inside of her.

"Oh fuck, Chichi!" He moaned out for her when he came.

With one last groan and gasp from her pink lips, she dove forward and sunk her fangs into the flesh of his neck. All he saw were stars as she completely commanded his body.

Kakarot jolted awake in his bed, his eyes darting around the room, searching for her as the sweat rolled down his face onto his neck. His room was just as empty as it was when he fell asleep, although it didn't feel that way. He reached his hand up to the spot where she had bitten him in the dream, feeling a slight stinging there that he excused simply as the remnants of the strange dream. Although he had not escaped completely unscathed, his throbbing erection greeted him and reminded him that it had not been real.

As he took it all in, his brain began to process the dream encounter. She had been absolutely intoxicating, he couldn't get enough of her, she was unlike anyone else he had taken before and now it was just feeling frustrating. The feel of her, the smell of her was simply amazing and he couldn't help but wonder what she tasted like outside of his dream. It dawned on him that he had shouted her name in the dream, but he had never recalled finding out her name from them during their brief encounter.

It was becoming a struggle for him as he stared at the stone ceiling above him, the vivid memory of laying on his back beneath her still burned into his mind like fire. It was like he could still feel her pressed against him, her flesh cool to the touch had easily warmed under his hands; that thought alone brought a shiver up his spine. She seemed much less frightening to him when she was whimpering and moaning for him than she had been the night he encountered her. While unrealistic, a small part of him hoped that at some point this could happen in reality outside of his dream world. The other part of him recognized that the next time they met, it would more likely not be under friendly circumstances. But a man could have fantasies couldn't he? There was no harm in that.

He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach in the hopes of ignoring his raging hard on, he just hoped he would be able to get back to sleep at some point.

* * *

Chichi jolted up in bed gasping for air that her lungs didn't quite need, the fine sheen of sweat coating her face and her naked flesh. The most bothersome part of being a half breed was her natural physiological responses, they for the most part were unwanted and unnecessary in her eyes. She groaned out and placed her hand between her legs, vividly aware of the throbbing and the wetness that had been caused by her tryst. She was glad that she had decided to sleep in her room alone, and for once have Bulma sleep in the adjoining room. This was not something that she wanted to explain to Bulma in the least.

Right now she wanted to jump someone and have her way with them, unfortunately for her, the person that she was left wanting the most was not there to help quell the longing within her.

She buried her face back in her pile of pillows and let out another long groan, tightening her thighs together in the hopes that the feeling would leave her soon. She had never meant to pull him into her dreams, that was an accident, and it was dangerous. Never before had she enchanted someone and been able to pull them to her mentally, let alone enough that she was able to physically recall his touch as if he had been present. If this continued, he would remember everything and soon be out of her control.

"Goddess Dammit!" Her shout was muffled by the pillows as she cursed the goddess for allowing her to put herself in this spot.

Now it was going to be up to her to get herself out of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: Just so you all know in the past week, I have gotten a total of 4 chapters written for this. Although I don't feel that they are ready quite yet, I should be posting on every week for the next month as I edit and complete them to my satisfaction. I would appreciate if you guys review after reading, as it will be helpful to me to decide my direction if I have input from you guys. Anyway I hope that you all enjoy! Much Love!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 5**

Days passed since the dream incident, the sun rising and falling within the sky, leaving Chichi feeling more comfortable as time continued to move on by her. No problems had surfaced since, and she had begun to convince herself that maybe, just maybe it had been an isolated occurrence and that she would be able to put it all behind her and continue on with her life. She would much rather tend to her daily duties as royalty than to have to deal with an enemy soldier who had managed to infiltrate her dreams.

Although she had indeed informed Bulma of her possible dilemma. Her friend had listened with riveted interest shining in her eyes, gasping at the dirtiest of the details. She had always had her nose in her friend's sex life, not that she minded, it wasn't like she wasn't nosey when it came to Bulma's as well. What else were they to talk about with an eternity of friendship between them? Unlike Chichi, Bulma had read into things too deeply, attempting to decipher what this meant for the future of the Queen and the rebellion at hand. Chichi's only concern was that her control over him was slipping, and that was something she couldn't have. For once their roles were reversed, Chichi found herself doing enough worrying for the both of them which was so very much unlike her.

Bulma had dragged her through their daily meetings, addressing issues that lingered on the borders of their lands. The Saiya-jins may not have been aware, but their scouts had gotten closer than ever before, this had led to casualties on both sides. Chichi was displeased with this and demanded that her military increased their patrols in those areas, the orders were to be on the defensive rather than offensive. They were far enough from the palace, that increased activity there would not draw attention to the palace. And attention was not something that she wanted, especially with her official coronation rapidly approaching. Bulma had managed to assist her in devising a plan of action, especially increasing their security surrounding the palace on the eve of her coronation.

The matters at hand were soon concluded and Bulma had ensured that only part of the afternoon was spent on her royal duties today, and part could be spent just relaxing about together. While urgent matters needed to be addressed, she realized that Chichi was useless in her royal capacities once her attention span was spent, or she became irritated, whichever happened first. She was well aware that her friend ruled the kingdom very effectively, but there were times that the young Queen's immaturity shone through her refined veneer.

Chichi's feet fell into step with Lady Bulma as they wandered through the expansive gardens and floral mazes of the palace. It was the one place that she knew that her Queen thoroughly enjoyed, the outdoors was therapeutic for her and calmed her nerves easily. Although Chichi much preferred to be out in the woods enjoying the wilds surrounding the palace, Bulma couldn't exactly allow her to be wandering around, not while there were so many who wanted to wipe their Queen from history.

Kneeling down aside one of the flower beds Chichi plucked a large handful of Monkshood, Sedum and Aster flowers. While she adored the coloring of the Anise flower, Chichi often found that the licorice scent of the flower was too overpowering of her sensitive sense of smell and lingered with her for much longer than she cared for. She reached up from her spot crouched on the ground and handed one of the pale pink Aster flowers to Bulma who tucked it into her aquamarine curls behind her ear.

"Bulma, remind me to tell the gardeners that we need more perennials and late blooming flowers, I feel like this garden doesn't have the same vibrancy during the autumn." Inhaling the scent of the brilliantly colored flowers brought a bright smile to her face, as much as she loved autumn, she adored seeing life blossoming during the summer as well.

"Of course. But Chich, that is to be expected, autumn is the time when everything begins dying out for winter, the last of the harvest. You can't expect it year round, you know that." Bulma laughed and stood behind her friend who happened to be completely absorbed in her simple pleasures.

"Gee thanks Bulma, I was unaware. Speaking of the final harvest, how did we fare for this season?" Her usual sarcasm gave way to her curiosity, it may not have been time for official business, but up until now it had been less of a priority in her mind, only dawning upon her in this moment.

"We did very well, we have enough to supply all of the surrounding villages, it's all been collected and stored, and enough for both our livestock and the livestock of the surrounding villages in our care as well." Bulma reached her hand out and assisted Chichi back to her feet, stopping and brushing the dirt that she had gotten on her skirts. She could swear most days that she had taken up the role of not only best friend, but mother and caretaker as well at times.

"Good, I was beginning to worry that we would be cutting it close since some of our stores had been destroyed during one of the Saiya-jin attacks. I didn't want any of the human villages going without this winter." Her eyes met Bulma's and found a nod of the head in agreement, it had been a concern they had all had this season.

Bulma smiled gently, putting her head down to hide it from her companion. She would never tell Chichi, but she was glad that despite her ruling firmly, she had the warmest heart of anyone she had ever met. Bulma knew that this kingdom had really been blessed that Chichi took after her mother and not her father. While yes she had gotten her father's temper, which Bulma knew first hand, she had also gotten her mother's patience, grace and compassion. Chichi cared so much for those who she saw struggle and would go to any lengths to ensure that their needs were met.

They began their stroll once again, finding their footsteps falling in sync, the beginning of the fallen leaves crunching underneath their boots as they walked. Their cloaks covering their pale faces from the sun that shined over head. Of course it was a beautiful day, those were the days the despite how the sun impacted them Chichi would always choose to be outside if she could at all help it. Despite her vampyric bloodline, she adored being outside in the sun, her advisor on the other hand did not agree with her and found it to be quite uncomfortable to say the least.

"You know we should really take to spending more time outside when we won't feel absolutely like crap afterwards Chi, like maybe a cloudy day, but then again you enjoy making my life difficult." Bulma sighed and pulled the heavy fabric closer around her delicate skin, finding herself feeling weakened by the intensity of the light.

"Oh stop the melodrama, I just enjoy the sunlight and how beautiful the world is during the day. You don't have to join me you know. You're welcome to stay inside." She did the opposite of her grumbling companion and dropped the hood to her cloak, while it drained her just the same, she didn't hate the sensation. The warmth of the sun soaking into the dark fabric of her cloak, and the feeling of the sun on her skin warming her was absolutely worth it to her.

"Honestly, you're right. But I don't trust you to not get yourself into any trouble when you're out here alone little miss. Everytime I do leave you be, it tends to be disastrous." Bulma tried to reach over and pull the younger vampires hood back over her head, the last thing she wanted was a whiny worn down Queen later when they had matters to address. She found her hand swatted away playfully as Chichi ducked away from her and ran ahead of her a few steps to get away from the doting of her companion.

Chichi stopped all movement, her ears picking up the sound of crying causing her head to perk up. Sniffing the air momentarily, she caught the scent of the frightened young human child on the other side. She hushed Bulma and moved straight for the wall surrounding the gardens, shoving one of the guards aside she hiked her dress up, tucking it into the corseted top. She could hear the voice of protest from her advisor as she grabbed onto the lowest branch of the tree that stood by the wall and quickly pulled herself up, hopping up to the higer branches before hurdling over the wall with graceful ease. Bulma sputtered in protest and immediately grabbed the nearest guard to go to the other side to retrieve their defiant young sovereign.

Chichi landed silently a few feet behind the child, and took a few tentative steps toward her, finally making her presence known to the child. It was a little girl, no older than five years old, her hair was dark as night. Her black hair fell over her eyes but the tear streaks were visible on her flushed cheeks, she bent down next to the child and pushed the ebony hair away from the girl's eyes seeing the bright blue color hidden beneath tears and long eyelashes.

Chichi quietly shushed the child, rubbing her arm before embracing her tiny figure.

"Darling what's wrong?" the girl dropped the stuffed animal she had clutched tightly in her little hands and managed to talk through her near hysterical sobbing.

"I-I got lost. I-I c-can't find-d my way back to my mommy." She pulled the girl even closer and tried to hush her once again. When all failed to calm the girl Chichi heavy pulled her heavy velvet cloak from her slender shoulders and delicately wrapped it around the girls figure, she grabbed the stuffed animal before picking her up gently and cradling her warm body close against her cool chest in the hopes of soothing her anguish. While a mother she was not, her instincts still screamed at her to protect the fragile being in her presence, this small child as frightened as she once was.

"Well that just means that I'll have to bring you back to mommy. I promise, now shhh sweetie." Her soft voice cooed as she continued with the slight rocking motion. It had been something her mother had used to soothe her many a time, she saw no reason why this wouldn't work with a human child. She watched the child cradled in her arms while she clutched at her little stuffed cat against her own tiny heaving chest.

Bulma stood only a few feet behind her apprehensively watching the affectionate display toward the young girl and shook her head. She had always known her Queen to have a soft spot for those weaker than her, much like her mother before her. Chichi turned and headed toward Bulma and the gate where her guards awaited their return, she was transfixed on the small girl, not bothering to watch where her confident steps fell within the dirt. This child reminded her so much of herself at that age.

"It's not safe to have her here." Bulma whispered quietly to Chichi, her tone too hushed for the child to hear.

Chichi scowled at her companion, speaking quietly and purposefully even as the child's eyes slipped shut, the combination of exhaustion and Chichi's influence causing her to finally settle down from her previous hysterics.

"No one will be hurting her while she's in my care, she is completely innocent in all of this, she doesn't know of war or death. It's not like she's trespassing willfully." Chichi understood that Bulma and her guard were all hesitant with anyone at the moment out of their desire to keep her safe.

"Besides we have enough people out for us. You think we need the disappearance of a child placed on our shoulders and have our entire kind put to blame. I for one will not let that happen. I already have enough to worry about, this will not be yet another." She placed her lips on the crown of the girls head, laying a gentle kiss upon her. This poor little lamb was completely worn out, and obviously felt safe enough in her care.

Chichi sat on one of the many benches within her gardens with Bulma watching the human girl resting. Her pale hands running through the girl's dark hair as she slept calmly, her hand glided across the child's cheek as she watched her smile and pull the cloak closer around her. Her next move was going to have to be the correct one, she could not risk keeping the child here for longer than necessary, but wasn't sure if she felt safe venturing to the village with the child to return her home. Although the latter of the two seemed like the only viable option for her, bringing forth a resigned sigh.

"Bulma, go inform Christian that he is to have one of the carriages meet us. I'll be needing to return her home as soon as possible." Bulma nodded in response and took off to the gate to put the orders into place. While she didn't feel comfortable with it, she was aware that her obstinate Queen would not take no for an answer on this matter.

Chichi waited a few more minutes before she decided that it was time to rouse the sleeping child from her nap and prepare to get her safely back to her mother. She loosened her hold on the girl, and repositioned her in a sitting position in her lap as to not startle her when she awoke.

"Little one, it's time for us to be getting you back. My name is Lady Maron, and I'm going to take you home to your mother" She smiled through her fib to the girl, she most certainly could not have her recalling her name and repeating it to the other villagers. While the girl didn't know who she was by title, the adults and elders most certainly would make the connection.

"My name is Laina." Chichi smiled at the shy tone as the little girl looked away from her, hesitantly looking up every few moments to meet her gaze.

Chichi could hear the soft clearing of a throat and glanced up to meet Christian's intense stare. She swore if she listened any closer she would be able to hear the chastising thoughts that he didn't dare to vocalize. If she wanted to be lectured, she would have asked Bulma to do it, but the last thing she needed to hear from anyone was how she was putting herself in harm's way. As far as she was concerned there was only one right thing to do, and it would take more than conceivable to convince her to do otherwise.

"I called for one of our carriages to pick you up where the road begins, that will bring you to the village. From there you get her home, the carriage will bring you back to the road and make your way back through the forest. There will be guards watching closely in case of any trouble." He stated calmly, yet sternly.

Chichi nodded at Christian's directions suddenly feeling as if they had been orders not just directions, while she would love to protest her attitude would achieve nothing for her at the moment. She picked Laina up and positioned her on her hip allowing the small girl to wrap her arms around her neck, she turned her back to him and walked into the woods with Laina clinging to her tightly.

As they made their way through the dense trees, the two mile walk through the forest quickly came to an end as the road came into view, she put Laina down on her feet, allowing her to steady herself before taking her hand and leading her along the hidden path to the road. She made her way to the carriage and opened the door picking Laina up and placing her inside, quickly following suit herself, she helped the little one up onto one of the plush seats. Chichi hopped out and walked to the front of the carriage, smiling demurely at her driver, her slight nod the only signal that he needed from her, he knew where he was to go, she turned and got into the carriage shutting the door and latching it behind her. Laina stood up and crossed the small space to sit on the seat next to Chichi leaning against her for security, the girl yawned causing Chichi to giggle at the sleepiness of her tiny guest.

Much of the ride continued in silence, which was fine by her, Chichi was more than content to watch the wonder in the girl's face as they moved along the dirt road toward the village. She pulled a bottle out of a small compartment below the seat, she lifted up two glasses placing them on the tray attached to the wall inside of the carriage.

"Juice darling?" Laina shook her head yes vigorously as Chichi poured the red substance into the glass, she poured the same into her glass as Laina picked up the glass in both of her hands, drinking it hastily leaving her lips slightly red and dripped onto her chin as well. Chichi laughed and took her time sipping at the cranberry juice in the crystal glass, her fingers toying with the detailing beneath them. She could hear the horses whinnying as the sounds of people as well as carts and other carriages came into earshot, she wiped Laina's mouth off with the handkerchief she had previously hidden within her bodice.

"Now darling, I don't want your mother to think I left you a mess." She straightened the girl's dress and dusted off some of the dirt that she had gotten on her as she called to the driver to stop the carriage.

Chichi stepped down out of the carriage holding the skirts from her gown up so as not to trip herself, she reached her hand up and offered it to the girl helping Laina down the few steps to the dirt road beneath them. She pulled the hood of her heavy cloak back over her head, the last thing she needed was to weaken herself when she was outside of the security of the palace walls. Yes her guards lingered on the edge of the town, but she would not risk needing them if she could at all help it.

She could feel Laina tugging at her hand and could hear her telling her where she lived, she followed the small girl to where she led, they stopped in front of a door, Chichi looked around and shuddered the damp smell lingering in her nostrils. She held Laina's hand as she knocked on the door, a woman answered the door and Lania leaped into her arms crying again but turned to acknowledge Chichi, her mother's eyes were filled with tears, their bright blue icy color making her eyes the only thing Chichi could concentrate on for the time being.

"Thank you so much, you found my baby girl, I thought I would die when I couldn't find her. How may I repay you?" Chichi smiled lightly as the short plump young woman's eager question.

"Do not pay me back. I'll come to visit her and that's all I ask. Take care of her. Farewell Laina." She leaned forward and kissed the girl's forehead, she could hear the woman yelling to her in thanks as she walked down the street and made her way back through the bustling little market place.

Chichi stopped in her tracks and looked around her body shuddering, she felt as if she was being watched and the glares were boring through her, she shook it off and pulled her hood closer around her face, turning on heel and making her way back to the carriage. As Chichi opened the door she looked around once again seeing nothing her eyes scanning across the village streets and into the darkened alleys within view. She shook her head at her paranoia and stepped up into the warmth of her transportation, shutting the door tightly behind her as she yelled to the driver to leave. Her fingers nimbly found the latch to the door and bolted it shut, and the tie to the curtains were delicately pulled away allowing the heavy velvet to drop over the window, hiding her from sight for the trip back home.

She couldn't fathom that two hours had passed by the time she felt the carriage slow to a halt. Her driver standing outside to door, informing her that they had arrived back at the end of road, the rest of the trip was hers to take alone. Unlatching the door, she swung it open and stepped out, smiling at her driver yet again, her eyes taking in his aging face. She had always seen him fondly, and much like his father before him, he had always served her well. Not only did he provide her with transportation, but he was often her eyes and ears into the human world and occasionally the Saiya-jin world. He maintained her property on the edge of the human village, which she rarely spent time at, but it was enough to keep suspicion off of her when she did make her presence known there. The town's people only knew of her as a wealthy noble woman who was a widow and had inherited her husband's trading business, which excused her regular absence from among them. They all had seemed to accept it over the years. Although she was certain that her financial support of the village as a whole didn't hurt her image in the least.

"Thank you William for doing this on such short notice." Chichi smiled warmly at the man and shut the door behind her, securing it in place.

"Of course Your Grace." He responded and bowed to her out of respect.

"Can I ask of you one more favor? Keep an eye on the child and her mother. If they ever need anything please pull from the funds at the house to care for them." The question was only half of her concern as she took in her surroundings, ensuring that there was no danger on the horizon.

"Yes my lady, I will do that for you." William responded to her with a small smile, his mustache quirking up with his smile. He knew that his Lady had always had a warm heart, much like her own mother.

"Thank you once again, please do have a safe trip back." She nodded her head with her statement excusing him to allow him to return home for the night.

"Yes my lady, I shall. Farewell." Bowing to her once again, he began to climb back up onto the seat in the front of the large carriage.

"Farewell William." Waving her hand in her goodbyes she moved farther from the carriage as it began it's slow pace back to the village.

Chichi smiled and sighed wistfully as she listened to the wheels crunching through the dirt, her back already to the road as she made her way into the darkness of the forest, finding comfort in the cover that the heavy vegetation provided for her. She quickly hiked her skirts up and bustled them behind her, her fingers using the ribbons built into the skirts to tie the front up higher and out of her way. Rolling her head to each side, she took in a deep breath, her eyelids fluttering at the heady smell of the woods around her, and in a flash she took off running.

If she had been absorbed in anything else, she would barely have noticed her guards tailing her, as silently as the night, but she was on alert now. There had been another set of eyes, someone else that wasn't part of her royal guard watching her back at the village. And if she hadn't lost them in the crowd or on the road back, she most certainly intended on losing them now. A tail was not something she wanted following her home. With that thought she leapt into the branches of the nearest tree and surveyed the area. She could only pick up on her men which gave her some comfort before she jumped down, pausing only momentarily in a crouch before taking off at breakneck speeds between the trees.

She reveled in the feel of the cool air against her already chilled skin. It was something she found not only soothing but invigorating as well, it made her feel alive. Well as alive as one who was half dead could feel. Her hood had long since fallen from around her face, and her perfectly styled hair now flowed behind her with the wind, the gentle curls whipping around her. The leaves and fallen branches crackled beneath her nimble feet as she moved, never remaining on a straight path, but instead darting between the trees, taking sharp turns and extra loops around. She was most certain that she had indeed managed to confuse even her guards following her, but they had been able to keep up.

The familiar smells of grand fireplaces burning and that strange smell of lavender that always lingered that she couldn't figure out was off in the distance up ahead. As the scent drew closer as did the sight of the walls of her palace, comfort that she was safe finally settling into her body yet again, allowing her to drop out of being completely hypervigilant yet again. She could sense her guards approaching from behind her, speaking their formalities as they approached the gates and opened them for her.

Chichi spoke her thanks before walking back through the walls surrounding the palace and its majestic grounds, her eyes locked on her bedroom window. While night was falling and the palace would soon be bustling with activity, all she wanted was to settle into bed in her nightgown and read a book before retiring from the world around her. Her people didn't need sleep the way that she did, although that didn't mean that she couldn't function without it. Quite the contrary, she needed very little of it despite enjoying it immensely. It didn't mean however that she wouldn't sleep her night or day away when she so pleased. And tonight it pleased her to be secluded.

Her sharp eyesight caught the flicker of a candle within the bedroom window, a shiver ran up her spine and once again she couldn't help that paranoid feeling of being watched. Turning on heel, she looked around, scanning the surroundings, even the causeways that spanned the walls protecting the palace. Her eyes found nothing but her own men and women patrolling the grounds per usual. But this, this was a feeling that she did not get from her normal guard, something was off and she couldn't pinpoint what.

Whatever it may be, she decided that she didn't like it, not one bit.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: There were a bunch of you who reviewed Chapter 5 for me already and I thought I would reward you all with Chapter 6 instead of making you wait until next week to post it. But you will have to wait on Chapter 7! I don't want to get too ahead of myself here. So without further ado, I present to you Chapter 6! Keep the reviews coming guys and I'll continue posting little surprise updates here and there! Much Love! Enjoy!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 6**

Kakarot ducked into the alleyway in the tiny village between the local inn and another storefront. He had almost been spotted. It had clearly been serendipitous that he had chosen to come to the village to investigate today. Something itched deep within his soul, whispering to him answers to questions that he hadn't even asked to begin with. Here she was, the woman who haunted both his dreams and his nightmares, the woman that he seemed incapable of placing a face to. Despite the mystery that shrouded her, he could still remember her voice as clear as day, whispering in his ear, making demands of him, but mostly he could remember her moaning his name in ecstasy.

While he desperately wanted to be disgusted by his desire for her, he could find nothing within himself but intrigue. Something tugged at him to hunt her down, not only for the sake of his own people and King, but it was almost a compulsion. He had spent days resisting this pull that fought against his very consciousness. He not only needed to find her palace and her to succeed in his mission, there was something else within his soul that was dragging him to her whether he liked it or not. He had fought it off for days, but today, only today had the pull been so strong.

Understanding had dawned on him why it had been so strong when he had seen her face before she had pulled her cloak closer around her porcelain features. He had wanted to attack the moment she had stepped down from her carriage, but the sight of the small child within her company had held him at bay. He watched with bated breath, expecting only the worst of such a beautiful monster such as herself. Somehow yet again she surprised him as she brought the child to her mother, and he couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips as she placed a delicate kiss upon the child's head before her departure.

Making a mental note to himself, he decided that he would come back and speak with the child and her mother at another point. For now he couldn't risk allowing her out of his sights and trailed her through the marketplace, all the while being cautious enough to keep himself far enough behind her and ducking behind people and stands as needed to keep himself concealed. Although he could tell that she could sense him lingering nearby by her constant surveying of her surroundings. She had almost spotted him before she had entered her carriage to make her return journey, but he had quickly dipped into the local pub and managed to get away from her for another moment in time.

Kakarot's sensitive hearing picked up on the hooves of the horses hitting the dirt and heading off into the distance; that was his cue to take off after her. Exiting the cool dark building back into the sunlight which would soon give way and be consumed by the darkness of the night, he took off in flight after her. He could sense her guards following closely behind her carriage, their tight strategical formation in place to allow them access to her at a moment's notice if need be. Cautiously and quietly he suppressed his energy and fell back a bit, allowing them to gain ground so that he could follow safely behind without giving himself away.

Slowing to a glacial pace he landed high up on a tree branch and watched as she climbed out of the carriage at the end of the road, his focus was on her, so much so that he barely took note of the man who had been her driver. At the moment it was inconsequential to him, as long as he was able to continue to follow her, he was set for success. His eyes widened when she hiked her skirts up and secured them into the ties hidden within them, exposing her cream colored thighs which lead down into the calf high black heeled riding boots that hugged her calves and feet. A fleeting thought crossed his mind that he should be the only one seeing that much of her, that he was enraged at the idea of her guards seeing her exposed flesh. It lasted only a second before he was able to shake the thought out of his head, not only was she the enemy, he had also only had his taste of her within his dreams, he owned not one bit of her.

She inhaled deeply, the tops of her breasts heaving over the edge of the tight corset that contained her and shaped that tiny waist of hers. Another thought crossed his mind, she didn't need the corset, her perfect tiny waist fit into her perfect hourglass shape. Every inch of her body was perfection if it was as beautiful as it was when she was naked. Shaking himself out of his daze, his eyes were only able to refocus on her as she walked into the shade of the trees, and suddenly she was gone in a blur with her guard flanking her.

Kakarot cussed under his breath and took off to the air once again, following her as closely as her formation would allow him. The hours that this trip had taken from beginning to end only felt like seconds, and all the while he felt like he had been holding his breath in anticipation. Despite his pursuit, he was not fully sure what his plan was once they reached the palace. He had come without reinforcement, and if he left to retrieve other troops he would not be able to make his way back here, let alone remember the palace at all. Albeit, he was determined to follow her until the end and see this half-baked plan through.

Her hood had fallen away from her face with the swiftness of her movement, and despite the fluidity of her motions, she had bolted to and fro and looped back around, almost managing to confuse him. At one point, he lost sight of her and her guards. But the sound and motion of the dark heavy cloak moving with her and the wind had clued him in on her. Catching up, he kept himself well behind them, hopping silently amongst the branches as she had slowed her pace. Finally coming to a halt, he positioned himself in the highest of the trees surrounding the palace. He watched while her guard catered to her, their respect for her almost nauseating to him, despite that fact that he spoke to his King with the same respect he struggled with how such a monster could hold such power and reverence.

The gates shut and locked behind her and the palace was once again secured for the evening. He could hear the sounds of the palace coming alive for the evening, but his eyes followed her, he could still see her form. Clearly she was wise enough to sense him yet again, she looked around, even her sharp eyesight missing him, the darkened cover of the leaves and branches hid him from view. Within minutes she had given up and left him sitting outside the palace walls, his silent observation over the past hour had lead him to figure out which window was to her bedroom.

Shortly after she disappeared he looked for signs of life amongst the palace, and while many others were bustling about, he kept his eyes trained for her figure to reappear. He easily could have missed it if he had glanced away even momentarily, but he saw her open her window and sit herself on the wide stone sill, her long black hair falling over her shoulders, she closed her eyes and let the cool breeze of the night brush across her chilled flesh. The short dark purple nightgown didn't leave much to the imagination, barely coming down to cover her thighs. If he could clear his mind, now would be the perfect time to move in, if he could corner her alone then maybe he had a chance to break the spell that she had over him.

This was it, he was going to go for it, all he needed to do was get himself past the palace walls.

* * *

Chichi sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the cool stone, the breeze soothing her racing mind. She just couldn't shake this feeling of being watched, and while she would much rather chalk it up to paranoia, she couldn't deny that there was a real possibility that an enemy spy had been able to locate them. Although for some reason, the idea of being found and killed did not unsettle her, she could very well handle herself in both physical prowess and with her mental manipulation. Despite her abilities to guard herself, should something happen she was well aware that Lady Bulma was well equipped and could successfully rule in her stead.

A strange calm had come over her this evening, perhaps it had been the presence of a child that had done that for her, after all she had always wondered what it would be like to be a mother. Although she was pretty sure that her caretaking of others was the closest that she as a halfbreed would ever come. It was moments like these that she wished that her mother were here, not just to shoulder the stress of ruling, but to simply run her fingers through her hair and whisper that everything would be alright. The comfort that only a mother could provide was something that her best friend nor any lover had been able to fulfill for her.

Nimbly sliding herself off of the window sill, she padded across her room, her bare feet hitting the cold stones before finding a strange reprieve in the warmth of the carpet surrounding her bed. Chichi lifted the dark red intricately detailed duvet, the light fluff feeling like nothing in her hands before she slipped into the bed and pulled the covers over herself. Her eyes traced the lines in the black canopy over her head, her mind continuing to wander much to her dismay. She had been used to this cold nothingness her entire life, finding only warmth in feeding and basic human comforts like blankets and other materials that adorned her everyday life. What would it be like to feel that warmth on a regular basis? To have that coursing through her as it was her own? To have a lover to warm her in their arms. The last was the most feasible, but even the comfort of the warm blooded breeds had failed to fulfill her, and part of her wanted to childishly protest at it being so unfair.

Chichi felt her tail tangle itself around her own waist as an act of satiation and comfort, reminding her that she had the capacity to be warm blooded if not only by her lineage. A halfhearted laugh escaped her lips, the sound familiar and almost bitter even to her own ears. For such a happy woman who was so giving and loving with those around her, she certainly struggled with getting from others even when it was readily offered to her.

This moment, this moment was why she liked to sleep like the mortals when given the chance. It was the only time that she could silence her thought process and escape from the torture of her mind and heart. She wondered if humans and Saiya-jins struggled with the same ailment of overthinking everything prior to bed the way she did. These were all of course questions that she would have to remember to ask of some of her human confidants when she saw them next. It felt childish of her to have to ask another for these answers, but these types of questions weren't what she would find in the anatomy books on humans in her library or any of the ancient texts. These were things for someone with real life experience. Someone who could satiate the nagging curiosity of her ancient yet still sometimes childish mind.

An interruption of the slightest caliber ceased any and all of her existential crisis, there was a faint tap of a boot against stone. One that she was unfamiliar with. One that she doubted was friendly. Her head jolted in the direction of the sound. Her eyes locked onto the dark chocolate eyes of the robust Saiya-jin warrior crouching in her bedroom window, his calloused hands readied to charge a Ki attack and pointed in her direction.

"So I find you in my bedroom once again, although this time I'm assuming you aren't here for the same sensual encounter are you?" Chichi would have snickered at the insinuation if she hadn't been more concerned with the gravity of the situation she was currently in. While she enjoyed the banter, she was more than aware that her very wellbeing was currently in peril.

"What did you do to me wench?" Kakarot practically snarled out at her, his hands still in position to attack if needed.

"Must you really address me that way? I much rather hear my name fall from your lips the way it did last time." This time she couldn't help the smirk that tugged at her lips, so what if humor helped her ease the nerves that currently tugged at her to attack and protect herself.

"I'm here to break the curse you put on me, and if it means killing you so be it. I would be a hero to my people." His bravado almost failed him, he could feel the sweat on his palms. He really didn't want to kill her, but he would indeed be handsomely rewarded by his King if he did.

"Cursed?! You weren't cursed you insensible ass. I had to protect myself from you! You didn't complain when you came to me the other night about this supposed curse." Her voice raised and she didn't hesitate to yell at him, how dare he come here once again and accuse her of anything, let alone threaten her.

"I never came to you! You've been in my head controlling my dreams!" He yelled back at her in anger, how could she lie to him about this, it was his well-being and he wasn't stupid, despite the fact that he knew she thought him thus.

"I did no such thing, you were the one who came bursting into my dreams, in my own room. I would be inclined to blame you if I could! Now would you put your damn hands down. If you are going to attack let's do this, if not put them down and get out of my damn window. Out or in, either way it doesn't fucking matter to me!" This time her lip curled up exposing the sparkling point of her tiny fangs, she was getting tired of this exchange, he had interrupted her evening and she was no longer amused by the intrusion.

"Stop giving me orders wench, and why should I come closer? For you to kill me?" His voice tinged with not only anger, but his mocking tone took over, if she wanted to condescend to him, he could damn well do the same thing to her.

"Yes, clearly that was my goal the other night, or are you completely daft? And stop calling me wench, or do you not remember my name boy?" A roll of the eyes conveyed every ounce of sarcasm and frustration that she held for the moment. He had to be daft to be pulling this stunt with her, and then disrespecting her in her own home.

His face flushed in anger and his expression mirrored that of her face a few moments ago, his lip curling up over his canines in anger.

"Don't call me boy!" He snapped back at her, earning a full bodied laugh from her when she realized that she had struck a nerve. Now she knew exactly which buttons to push to infuriate him.

"Do you not remember my name Kakarot?" She half whispered as a smile played on the corners of her lips, clearly amused at his agitation with her.

Words failed him in that moment as he fought to come up with a response, but his brain was scrambling to remind him of the things they had done to each other in this very bed in his dreams, and it clearly reminded him of the way he reacted when she whimpered his name.

"I'll explain this only once, usually I can impose my will on another, get them to do what I want or need them to. Once my commands have been fulfilled, they are left with no memory. I can't explain why, but this time it seems to have gotten out of my control, and instead bound you and I together." Chichi only spoke with facts, she didn't know what had happened, and she wasn't about to make something up to simply placate the buffoon in her bedroom window who was clearly intent on ruining her peaceful evening.

"Oh you have erased my memory, and it's giving me one hell of a headache." He grumbled under his breath. He finally lowered his hands and rubbed his head with one, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily.

She patted a spot on her bed with her free hand, her other hand resting under her pillow grasping the hilt of her dagger, readied to pull it out if need be. While she would much rather not bleed him out in her bed, if it needed to be done, then it would be done. She would most certainly not have herself taken out by a Saiya-jin in her own bed. That would be a pitiful way to go and was something she simply could not accept as an outcome.

Kakarot leapt from the window, landing on both feet steadily as he approached her with caution dancing in his eyes illuminated only by the candlelight of her room. He didn't know why he approached her, but part of him knew that at the moment he couldn't full well trust her, her hand had remained under her pillow, grasping what he could only assume was a weapon. Taking his place alongside of her bed, he stood at full height and stared down at her intently, waiting for a response from her.

"Well that was certainly not my intention. So are you here to kill me for the headache I've given you, or for your King? I'm a little unclear on details and would like to know why my life is in jeopardy." Her sarcastic tone remained, one corner of her lip still fighting to tug into a smug smirk at the fact that he had not only gotten past the enchantment, but that he had indeed somehow landed himself back here. Part of her was almost impressed.

Baffled, that's what he was, he was absolutely baffled by her. Here he stood before her, each of them containing the ability to kill the other in some way, yet she joked with him, she laughed at the situation, and strangest of all she hadn't made a move to attack. For a creature that so many feared for her supposed lethality she was more of a firecracker with a short temper fused with a strange sense of humor. He was failing to see this blood thirsty beast.

" I, uh…. Well." Really Kakarot, all he could manage was to stutter out, while he physically looked the part of the confident and fearsome warrior, his tongue failed him when he needed a response the most.

"Kitty cat has your tongue now does it? Now can you please explain to me why your King wants my people dead so badly? My mother and your King's Grandfather had peace between the kingdoms for many years, what has changed?" the question rolled off of her tongue, her tone piquing a note higher than before. It wasn't like she would be presented an opportunity to ask anyone else this question and receive a real answer.

"Your savage people keep killing off Saiya-jin's and humans alike, taking prisoners. You're monsters and we can't let this scourge continue on this planet." He wanted the conviction in his tone to convey just how sure he was of all of this, but it was beginning to feel scripted, too rehearsed, and he was struggling to decide if there was truth behind the words that left his mouth.

An audible exasperated sigh escaped from her pink lips, much more loudly than she had intended on, but it was frustrating to her to have to repeat herself over and over to others. She felt like she always had to explain herself to other races regarding these things, and part of her wished she had a written disclaimer to provide. At least that way she could save her breath and her patience.

"We do have to defend ourselves you know. Aside from that, yes there are some rogue's out there that stray from our Kingdom, I do the best that I can to control them and eliminate them. I do want to protect my own people, but my duty to protect the Saiya-jin's and humans who have come to live amongst us in our lands falls solely on my shoulders. When I have to have my military protecting myself all the time, it keeps me from being able to send them to eliminate these rogue's who have defected from our society." Chichi ran her hands through her long inky black hair before resting her forehead on the palm of her hand. If she had been a warm blooded creature, she was sure that now would be the time that she would have developed a headache.

Once again she had left him speechless, and he actually gave himself a moment to compose his thoughts. Chichi waited on him to respond, one eyebrow raised as she stared right at him, her dark chocolate eyes locked onto his own leaving him squirming under her gaze.

"Saiya-jin's and humans live amongst you?" He asked her incredulously.

"There are some of our villages where yes, we all live together and quite peacefully. We provide protection for those who need it and in change they help us by tending to the villages themselves during the hours that we cannot. Your dear brother had come to live with me for quite some time within these palace walls." For a moment she could feel that old sadness creep into her being, it was something she generally tried not to discuss if she could at all help it.

"I thought you said you killed him?" This time he asked out of curiosity, rather than accusation or anger. He had gotten minor details from her, but really did want to know a bit more. Although his brother had been estranged from the family for years prior to his death, he did want answers.

"It was not an act that I took lightly, you think I wanted to kill the man that I had taken to my bed? The man who was planning to marry into this kingdom? I trusted him, and when he made the attempt to forcibly take my body, I defended myself, no more, no less." This topic brought a strange feeling of anxiety over her and left her fidgeting with the edge of her blanket, self soothing herself without making it completely obvious to someone who didn't know her habits.

There was a long pause for her as she took in a deep breath to soothe herself. "I mourned him much as you did Kakarot. As angry as I was, I felt myself a widow for that, and three years has done very little to heal that wound."

"He never betrayed you or your people, and I never asked him to. He also knew that I was only on the defense, I have always chosen to defend rather than attack. It does me and my kingdom no good to have such enemies who could otherwise prove to be powerful allies. We could together be the greater good, but it seems that you have vilified me to the point where the alliance could never exist despite all the work that my mother had done."

"What work was that?" He paused for a moment deciding that there was something more important to ask. "How are you of Saiya-jin blood?"

Chichi looked up from her blankets and her eyes met his, her milk chocolate eyes looking almost black in the dim candlelight of the room. Her fingers relinquished their hold on the soft fabric of her blanket. She stood from her spot on the bed, and hopped off of the edge and onto the carpeted floor, her feet soon hitting the cool stone as she walked to the bookshelf against her wall and pulled a thick leather bound book from it before returning to her bed. Settling back into the same spot still indented by the weight of her body, she relinquished the need to reach for her weapon, pulling the covers back over her lap and placing the large text down.

"My father was King Vegeta's Great Grandfather." Chichi thumbed through the well worn pages of the book written hundreds of years ago detailing the history of not only her own people, but that of the Saiya-jin's as well.

"The work that you speak, well that's a little more complex. My mother and his Great Grandfather married and spent a significant amount of time together after his first wife passed, but as he came to power within this own kingdom, he became power hungry, he wanted both his own kingdom and hers all to himself, he was awful to my mother. It was something that Vegeta's Grandfather himself saw as he got older, and took it into his own hands. He overthrew his own father and made an alliance with my mother." She turned the book to him, allowing him to see the detailed drawings within of her mother and the King's Great Grandfather, together holding a small child between them.

"That alliance lasted almost a 100 years before Vegeta's father broke the alliance. Although the violence between our people only began in the last 30 years, and now Vegeta is carrying on with the war that his father began. I'm still not sure why, my mother was never able to explain to me why the alliance had crumbled prior to her death." Her fingers traced over the picture of her mother when she pulled the book back to herself, she was the spitting image of her mother, and although her delicate petite nature was not something she had gotten from her graceful mother, she had inherited all of her mother's other physical attributes.

"Vegeta has always said that it was due to you making the first attacks on us, and your killing of his father that we ended up at war with you." Kakarot only spoke matter of factly at this point. He only knew what he had been told by Vegeta, which looking at it now, some of it very well could have been hearsay from his father's old council.

Laughable, that blatant lie was laughable, but she couldn't even find a little in her considering the weight of the discussion.

"Absolutely not, by the time the attacks began, I was already helping my mother to run the kingdom, and at no point did either of us give any orders that would have led to this outcome. We have always tried to keep the peace, war benefits our kingdom none."

His mind wandered away from the plethora of new information that he had acquired, not only about this strange Queen that his people feared so much, but about the lineage of his own King as well. He truly doubted that Vegeta knew of any of this, it seemed like his father had kept a significant amount of information from him, and his father's council had carried it long after his death.

"Exactly how old are you?" His voice piqued with curiosity, despite her story, there was no way she was any older than he was, she didn't look at day past 18.

"185 years old, I was born long before any of the bloodshed began, I would love to return to the times of peace that existed before all this." Her saddened tone immediately betrayed her, but she couldn't help but think of how life had been much easier with peace between their races. It had been a glorious time.

Kakarot watched her eyes become distant as she stared out the open window, her eyes practically sparkling with the stars that shone brightly just outside. Her hands played over the delicate patterns on her blanket, smoothing it out across her legs over and over again. He hesitated to join her as she had previously requested, but finally sat facing her from the edge of her bed, she had made no move to attack him so far and he was willing to push his luck. He was hard pressed to decide if it was her influence that soothed him and put him at ease with her, or if he had begun to feel comfortable in the strange new calmness of her demeanor.

"I can speak with King Vegeta about arranging a treaty. If you're telling the truth, then you two can meet together to discuss the terms. There may never be an alliance again, but if we can stop the bloodshed then it would be better than nothing." It was only an idea, one that he wasn't sure what could work at all. In fact he wasn't sure what had prompted him to even make the suggestion. It would be one that he would have to do much pleading and reasoning with in order to even get it considered. But he didn't see why it shouldn't be considered either.

"I have no reason to lie to you Kakarot. But I have very little reason to trust you and allow you to bring my enemy information that may hurt us. You've now trespassed in my home for the second time, so you can understand where I am coming from." She sighed and looked up at him, her eyes locking on his once again.

"Well you said that we're bound together correct? What does that mean?" He blinked at her, his face displaying only innocent confusion.

"I couldn't begin to tell you, I've heard stories of this happening where if one gets hurt the other feels the pain of them, that it creates a bond that only death can break, it's how lovers come to be. All sorts of things. It's something that rarely happens and I only have the lore to run off of." She gently traced her fingers around the edges of the massive text sitting in her lap currently.

"Then you summoned me, maybe it's your fault I was drawn here. I didn't ask for any of this, this is responsibility dammit." He grumbled under his breath, not even realizing that he had spoken his thoughts out loud.

"You think I'm pleased about this?! You weren't exactly my first pick of someone I want to be bound to!" She snapped back at him, her eyebrows furrowing in anger and frustration.

Kakarot almost cringed at her raised tone, but couldn't help but feel a sting at her words. She was right, he hadn't been her first choice, his brother had been, and despite his desire to do whatever his King asked of him and to remain with hatred in his heart toward her, he was struggling to find it within himself. Why else would her words bite the way that they did?

"My point is, if I'm bound to you, you should try to trust me. Let me speak with Vegeta, and I'll come back if I'm successful and negotiate the terms." He made his point sternly, looking away from her the whole time, he couldn't risk her seeing the hurt in his eyes.

"I can't let you do that. You may go to speak with him, but you cannot come back here, I need you to forget this place once again. If you succeed, be in the village in 4 days time. I'll find you. If you're not there then I will full well know the outcome." That was the agreement that she was willing to make, it was the only safe one that she could think of on the spot as well.

Kakarot stood from her bed and watched as she herself moved the leave the bed as well. She grabbed a silken robe off of the polished wood stand that was draped in her outer wear, slipping it around her slender shoulders, her hands sliding through the softness of the fabric. Chichi headed toward her door and placed her hand on the handle, looking back at him in the hopes that he had understood to follow her. He had understood, but he had not budged from his spot.

"I'm not walking through the palace to leave here, that's like parading a steak in front of dogs!" Kakarot stated with a sardonic laugh, stopping in his steps and refusing to follow her.

Chichi for a moment thought he could hear her rolling her eyes at him since she heard him take a step or two closer to her. That wasn't something that was audible was it? If it was she was going to have to learn to reign in her over the top sarcasm in the future which was something she didn't want to do.

"You really are an ass Kakarot." She bit back, crossing her arms over her chest, her petite bare foot tapping against the stone floor in agitation.

"And it sounds like your grandchild takes after you with his insults." He laughed at her irritation with him. Yes, her snarky attitude and fiery temper was clearly an Ouji family trait that they had both inherited from the family through the ages, even with the many years that separated them.

"Don't you laugh at me! If you don't want to be called an ass, why don't you try saying something that isn't so stupid?! If you can't manage that, then shut up!" This time she raised her voice and stepped toward him, standing toe to toe as she yelled up at the taller warrior. Her bare toes pressed against the worn leather of his boots, she certainly was not afraid of taking on someone larger than herself in the least.

But despite all of the rage from the small vampire in front of him, he couldn't help the smirk that remained on his face, if she had been a warm blooded breed, he was sure she would have been much more red in the face than the slight pink tinge that stained her cheeks currently.

"Why don't you make me?" It was a question laced with instigation and teasing, he wanted to provoke her further

"Excuse me?!" She practically hissed out between clenched teeth at him.

"If you want me to shut up so badly, why don't you make me?" The moment the words left his lips he second guessed himself, this was completely inappropriate, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

He swore that he could see her shaking with rage for the moment, and he found it absolutely adorable knowing that he was able to infuriate the tiny yet dangerous woman before him. Her tail bristled and darted to and fro irately behind her, the tip of it occasionally making a rattling motion. A puff of breath from her nose caused her nostrils to flare for a moment as she pressed her lips tightly together, for a moment he could swear that he heard a growl rumbling from within her chest as she seethed at him.

Kakarot learned a few new things while he waited for another heated response from her. The first being that he found her to be absolutely the cutest when she was seething with anger, it was something about the color it brought to her pale face and the way that despite her demure stature she managed to puff up. The second being that he liked provoking her and watching the fire in her eyes ignite. The third being that he liked women with power, there was something so much more attractive about a woman who would have his head and would need no one else to present it to her but herself.

"If I shut you up it's going to be with my foot in your ass, now let's go. I want you out." She spoke clearly and slowly before pointing to her door behind them, he had overstayed his welcome for the evening and she was absolutely done with this conversation.

Spinning on her heel she turned away from him huffing indignantly and mumbling under her breath, only continuing with opening her door into the corridor when she heard his footsteps behind her. Chichi could hear the gasps from her staff while she traipsed the armed intruder down the hallway and away from her bedroom. Despite their shock, no one spoke up to question their Queen who was clearly fuming as she stormed away from him, the cocky young Saiya-jin trailing behind her with his tail waving happily. He was sure if she had noticed the satisfaction on his face that she would have grabbed his tail with all her strength just to bring him down a notch. Every time she looked back at him to make sure that he wasn't getting himself off track he wiped the smirk off of his face.

Kakarot followed her in silence, he wasn't sure why he felt as happy as he did with himself. Not only because she had convinced him to change his mind on things, but because every instinct within him screamed that she was trustworthy and he took pride in his instincts. He didn't feel like he was falling into anyone's manipulation, during their entire conversation not once did he feel her asserting her influence over him, which she easily could have done. A smart ass comment crossed his mind that maybe he was as happy as he was because he was following behind her with a clear view of her luscious silk clad bottom and her long velveteen tail waving of its own accord with every step that she took.

They approached the grand staircase that lead into the main foyer of the palace, she very quickly made her way down it, the audible sounds of her tiny feet hitting each stair, her hair bouncing with the motion. He took his time, looking around the grand room, observing the seating space and the elaborate decorations the adorned the large room they descended into. It was much different coming through the palace the proper way then it was when he snuck in, he felt a little less unwelcomed. Although the glares and gasps they got as they walked past other inhabitants and staff reminded him that he was still a stranger, still a sheep amongst the wolf's den.

Chichi opened the front door, ignoring the staff's attempts at handling things for her, she called the guard to her that stood outside the door and gave him clear directions to escort her guest from the palace and ensure that he made his way back to the road. He also overheard her telling him that once they left his side, he would no longer remember the palace, and they were not to stick with him for any longer than need be.

Turning back to him she pursed her lips together and sighed, bowing her respects to him and earning the same in return, she hated curtsying and most certainly wouldn't do that in the tiny nightgown she was currently wearing.

"Kakarot, thank you for your assistance. If I do not find you in the village in 4 days time, I will understand that your King is not willing to negotiate." She spoke curtly, yet politely.

Kakarot could tell that despite trying to be polite she was still irritated with his button pushing and purposeful instigation. He reached out and grabbed her hand, kissing the back of it, standing back to stare at her one last time he smirked again at her. His eyes drinking in the milk chocolate of her own and running over her features before responding.

"I will see you in 4 days Your Grace." His voice was playful yet his intention was serious, he would do his best to be there with some agreement, but talking Vegeta into coming was not going to be any easy feat. He intended on being there with or without Vegeta at this point, he needed to see her again and that he knew.

And with that he was out the front door following her guards away from the palace and toward the defensive walls surrounding the sanctuary. Part of her wanted to yell after him, he was trying to anger her, that idiot! Despite her desire to strangle him for being such a pain in her ass, the other part of her desperately wanted him to succeed, it would not only mean seeing him again, but it would create a future for her kingdom that hadn't been an option before.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: So I'm not as pleased with this chapter as I would like to be, but overall it will have to do. This ended up being filler before the next chapter which will be the longest of this story yet. I'll be working on editing that shortly as I get reviews for this one. Thank you for everyone who has reviewed thus far. I appreciate it and look forward to the next set of reviews from you all! Read and Review! Thank you all. Much love!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 7**

The four days had passed by and despite how quickly it had gone, she had been impatient the entire time, perhaps because she was anticipating seeing him again, or perhaps because she was hoping that this treaty would come to be and ease her worries. It most certainly had nothing to do with Lady Bulma yapping her ear off day in and day out about her connection to this infuriating male who had somehow become entangled in her life. And Lady Bulma did just that the entire trip to the village with her.

Chichi had attempted to dissuade Lady Bulma from attending this rendezvous with her, not due to her annoyance with her, but simply because she was concerned that if he did show up this could turn into a trap and she wanted her successor to be able to lead should she not escape. But Lady Bulma had been so assured that she was not only safe in the presence of her Queen who handled herself like a well-trained combat veteran, and also with Christian tailing closely behind them she had been absolutely unable to coax her into staying behind and allowing her to handle this matter herself.

A feeling of complete unease had settled in her stomach, and she was sure that if she had been more mortal she would have felt what she had heard described as nausea. Part of her was unsure if it was because this had the potential to go very right or very wrong, or if her lover and guard tailing her to see the warrior she wished to absolutely devour was making her uncomfortable. Either way she knew that she had wished to tend to this alone, and her wishes had been disallowed.

With a deep breath she opened the carriage door and stepped down, ignoring the hand that Christian offered to help her down. Her eyes scanned across the village, some of the humans here knew her face, they knew her alias, but no one here aside from those traveling with her and her driver were aware of the position that she held over these lands. She wanted to keep it that way, it made it easier to be treated like a normal person if she came as herself rather than as the royalty that she was by title. So far she saw nothing suspicious, but pulled the hood to her cloak over her head, covering her face from the miniscule amount of sunlight that escaped between the thick clouds overhead.

As Lady Bulma stepped down as well she took Christian's hand and followed Chichi's example, hers more so out of necessity than Chichi's, as a full breed she was uncomfortable in the daytime as a whole. While it didn't damage her skin or kill her, it certainly left her feeling completely drained and weakened her abilities significantly. She followed behind Chichi as they approached the pub. Chichi had informed her that there was no guarantee that he would show today, but that they needed to spend time amongst the locals and kill time while they waited. She on the other hand told Chichi that if he didn't show by midnight that they should head back.

While Lady Bulma felt safe with Chichi and with Christian along with them, she didn't want her Queen outside of the protection of the palace for too long, there were simply risks that she wasn't willing to take with the well being of her young charge.

Chichi pushed open the door and strode into the musky dimly lit pub, she slid onto one of the long wooden benches and signaled for both Bulma and Christian to follow suit. As much as he wanted to stand guard for her, she had demanded that he not call attention to them at all this afternoon. After all her alias would have no need for a guard, while she was supposedly from a wealthy family, she made sure not to establish her alternate persona as a woman of nobility. She wanted to be able to fit in comfortably among the villagers. All of this she had successfully done over the last 10 years that she had been actively involved in ruling the Kingdom.

The barkeep approached their table and smiled at her, he had served her many a time, and in fact had become quite fond of her. She was not the woman who came in here with her man or to dote on the eligible bachelors of the village, she came in here often and drank with the village men and elders. Telling stories and joking with many of them like she had known them their whole lives, it kept her connected to the humble hard working people that adored her presence.

"Afternoon Lady Maron, what will it be for you and your friends." The man smiling down at her, the laugh lines and wrinkles adorning his face moving with his smile.

"Oh just three pints of ale, and no, not just for me." Her light laugh and smile earned a warm one back from the older gentleman.

He nodded to her and moved to retrieve their drinks from the oversized wooden casks.

Chichi turned her attention back to her companions and busied herself with starting a conversation with Bulma. Despite the look of discomfort, Bulma prodded her about her interactions with this strange Saiya-jin warrior, even mentioning details of the encounter she had mentally shared with him, all the while Christian sat by with an irritated look written across his face. She was sure that if she could blush she would have, not because she cared that it was discussed, but because of Christian's presence. She had avoided intimacy with him on any level since this whole debacle had begun. Their relationship had been nothing aside from carnal pleasures and with the Saiya-jin warrior plaguing her waking thoughts and her dreams, she had found her interest in him had waned to next to nothing.

The pints were put down in front of them and Chichi gave her thanks to the barkeep, handing him the coins in payment. It was only another reason that he liked her, she never expected anything free of him and was never any trouble when she visited. Moreover she was able to hang out among the men and handle their vulgar and inappropriate ways better than many of the women here in the village. He left their table to tend to other patrons and the friendly conversation resumed between the two women.

* * *

Kakarot had had the difficult task of being the messenger between the Queen and his own King, it had not been a task that he had particularly been looking forward to, but he had given his word and if nothing else, he was indeed a man of his word, much like his own father.

The conversation itself had not gone all too well to begin with, especially for him. Upon returning and beginning to explain the conversation he had had with the Queen, Vegeta had immediately been at his throat. He had gone after Kakarot physically in anger before, but this time was different. Vegeta had been enraged with him, and accused him of lying about knowing where to locate their palace as he was able this time to remember almost everything else. What had begun as a relatively docile conversation rapidly became a heated sparring session. Kakarot had defended himself against his King, but only enough for him to be able to get out what he needed to say between the barrages of punches and kicks being thrown his way.

What had halted Vegeta in his tracks finally was his mention of the Queen being Vegeta's own blood relative. Kakarot only provided sparse details from what he had only shortly ago learned to his King while he caught his breath and wiped the blood away from the laceration that was bleeding profusely underneath his eye. He did not remember all of it, just that they were descended from the same family, he would have to let the Queen speak to this point during their meeting if he could only get Vegeta to agree to begin with.

Vegeta had listened intently after that detail, and while he did argue back against the points being spoken, he actually heard what was being recounted to him. As he thought it over, he himself was able to admit that aside the word of his father's small council, there was not much proof that the Vampire Queen had truly had any involvement. It was something he was going to have to look into now that his own council was assisting in making decisions and planning battle strategies, his father's council only held sway now verbally, but not in name or in power.

Although he was still baffled as to how Kakarot had partial memories, the explanations he was given seemed sufficient enough for himself. And despite his initial hesitations his First Commander had never given him any reason to distrust him or doubt his loyalty to the crown and his people.

Kakarot thought over the events of that night and touched the swollen abrasion under his eye that was still in the process of healing for that night proving that his initial dread of approaching that topic had indeed been correct. His hand fell onto the handle of the wooden door leading inside. It was now or never. 

* * *

Chichi sipped at her ale as she listened to Bulma talk about what being bound to another meant, although much like everyone else, she only had second hand stories and lore to base her assumptions on. It had been frustrating for her since she had hoped to provide Kakarot with a reason as to why this had happened in their instance, and if there was anything they could do to break it, aside from the old stories stating that only in death could they part. Apparently her far off stare and the small handful of clipped responses alerted her advisor to her distracted thoughts.

"Lady Maron? Is everything alright?" She asked her Queen with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course everything is wonderful, I'm waiting possibly for my enemy, possibly for my friend and I'm not sure if any of it will happen to begin with. I apologize for being exasperated this afternoon my dear Bulma. Please don't take it personally." Chichi practically sighed out the last part, her nerves getting the better of her at the moment.

Bulma smiled at her and reached her hand out to touch the top of Chichi's hand, stilling it from the constant circle that it was running around the edge of the large cup. The anxiety radiated off of the young woman and at this moment there was not much she could do to assuage it aside from letting her know that she was aware and that they were in this together. As they had always been. Bulma would not let her be alone in any of this, it was her duty to Chichi and she had sworn to her mother that she would protect her from the world and from herself above all else.

"Your mother would be proud of you for such diplomacy." Bulma calmly assured her.

"That's the only thing that let's me know that I'm doing the right thing by being here today." Chichi's face was eclipsed by the large cup once again, another swig of ale being swallowed down in the hopes of it soothing her.

"Well you are here and that's a start, although I'm sure your mother also would have encouraged you to go after that hunk of a man. That rough nature of his can always be softened you know? A man can always be tamed my dear." Bulma winked at her and smiled.

"What if I didn't want him tamed? What if the only way I like him is if he's as wild and reckless as I myself am?" Chichi's eyes widened and she put her hand over her mouth, she hadn't meant that thought to be spoken out loud, but she had indeed stated that to her best friend, and could feel the glare from her guard sitting beside them.

"I would definitely agree that I'm reckless, but wild? I didn't know I was some common beast." Kakarot responded, his smooth voice playful as he chose to intrude on their conversation rather than present her with some half assed formal greeting.

"Oh but you are some beast, but it is a beast that you both share, which is anything but common." Lady Bulma replied instead, seeing the stunned look on her Queen's face as the strange Saiya-jin warrior approached her from behind. Her Queen couldn't even bring herself to turn and face him, her eyes widened further like that of a frightened deer, wondering how much of their conversation that he had overheard.

"Fair enough, although if she likes this beast wild and reckless, I'm sure that I can show her just how wild and reckless I can be." He smirked as he moved to stand at the head of the table, his eyes locked on the petrified Queen sitting in front of him, her refusal to make eye contact with him taken for embarrassment. Which is exactly what it was.

"Hello Kakarot, it seems that we have been unable to get rid of you thus far. I heard that you've made more than one appearance in My Lady's bedroom." She smiled and spoke in jest as she rose and curtsied before him. "Lady Bulma, I did not formally introduce myself last time."

Kakarot nodded his acknowledgment of Lady Bulma and turned his head to grunt his displeasure at the male sitting alongside the petite monarch that he had come here to see. Finding himself perturbed at his presence and the proximity of his body to the woman he accompanied, he had been hoping to have her alone on this trip. Locating her in this little village had not been difficult, somehow his hyperactive senses had picked up on the smell of her sandlewood and vanilla musk perfume, it was a smell that he remembered quite well from her bedroom only a couple nights past. If he had been a man with less willpower he might have buried his face against her neck where he guessed it would be the strongest, it was a smell that naturally complimented her. But he did have that will power and didn't feel like dealing with her guard today for something so asinine.

It was time to get down to the point, while he rather enjoyed flustering the beautiful Monarch, there were other things to tend to "I know you have all traveled here with your Que….."

"You mean Lady Maron, we need to find a more private place to speak." Bulma interrupted him, not allowing him to speak her name within the ear shot of others. Getting the hint across effectively.

"Yes Lady Maron. But my King would like to meet with her alone with myself." While he realized that their Queen wanted to remain anonymous here in the village, his King cared little about that.

Christian opened his mouth to protest, but was over ridden by Lady Bulma speaking out quickly and confidently. This was a trip of diplomacy, and one in which he had her best interest in mind, Bulma was aware that, but matters of peace were not to be left up to those whose specialties were fighting and war tactics. His quick witted mouth and temper could not be allowed to impact the matters at hand.

"I'm sorry, but your King will not be able to meet with My Lady alone. Since I'm assuming you will be accompanying him during this meeting, I will be with My Lady. There is no other way that I can allow this, you must understand." Bulma had not taken her seat again and instead stood face to face with the young warrior. There was no room for error in this situation and it would most certainly be an error if these Saiya-jins believed they could corner her Queen without her present.

Chichi was very quickly running over the places that they would be able to meet alone with the two Siaya-jin nobles, the idea of taking them back to her vacation home on the edge of the village did not make her comfortable, returning to the palace was most certainly not an option in the slightest, and conducting the meeting here would not be feasible as it was such sensitive information they would be discussing. While she didn't like the idea, the only option that seemed like a realistic one was taking them to her other home, this would eliminate it as a safe house for her but she seemed to have no other options. Besides it wasn't the only home that she had away from the palace, although it was indeed her favorite due to it being located within this particular village.

Finally speaking up as her decision had been made, "I have a place where we can meet, but I will need you to follow us there."

Bulma raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, realizing exactly what she was intending to do, and while she didn't exactly agree with the decision, she understood that it was the only place with enough privacy for them to conduct this meeting. The matter of her having the spare safe house when needed would be addressed later with her, that was a matter for the two of them that need not involve any of the men.

"But you are going to have to wait for me to finish my ale, I am not fond of abandoning a good drink honestly." She lifted the flagon to bring her point home.

Kakarot blinked at her and nodded, while his King was not one for patience, he couldn't argue her on that. For a moment he thought that she was clearly a woman after his own heart, now if she only loved wine and the other spirits the way he did he was going to have to rethink his idea of the perfect woman for him. He watched with interest as both she and her advisor downed large sips of their ale together, beginning to chatter amongst themselves regarding the trip to her house as if he were no longer standing there.

"I'll let him know that we will be leaving shortly, try not to take too long, he's sort of short on patience." Kakarot grumbled the last part, short on patience was one of the biggest understatements of the century.

Chichi rolled her eyes at him for what she felt was the millionth time since they had met in their three encounters now, but she couldn't seem to help herself, he was infuriating despite being attractive. She lifted the large cup to her lips and downed another few large gulps, savoring the taste on her tongue, blood may have been her primary form of sustenance, it didn't mean that she didn't enjoy food and drink, it just wasn't a necessity, more of a personal pleasure.

Kakarot moved to head out the door to inform his King and stopped in his tracks, glancing over his shoulder at her and her equally lovely advisor. "Can you two even get drunk?"

Receiving a smirk from them both in response. "Lady Bulma cannot, I on the other hand can, but it takes quite an extraordinary amount to accomplish such a task."

Feeling satisfied with such an answer, he retreated to speak with his friend and King waiting outside of the building. He was glad that Vegeta had felt confident enough in their abilities to come alone to meet with the Queen and her advisor, they had had the respect to come essentially alone, although the presence of her guard, the same one who had initially captured him irritated him, it was understandable that he attended with them. Something about the man irked him, and he wasn't quite sure what it was, he couldn't put his finger on it.

Vegeta stood leaning against the outside of the stone building, his cape pressed between his well muscled back and the dirty cold stones of the wall. For once his face did not hold an iota of anger, he looked comfortable down here, which was strange considering the situation that they were walking into this afternoon. Kakarot figured that it was either him presenting well to handle his royal duties, that or he was genuinely pleased to be out of their palace amongst the common people.

"The women will be joining us very shortly, they were refusing to leave before finishing their ales." He smirked as he informed the King, expecting nothing short of a sarcastic response from him.

"What impertinence!" Vegeta responded gruffly toward Kakarot without even looking over at him.

"To be fair I cannot blame them, they did arrive before us. If it had been the other way around, we would have done the same." Kakarot shrugged his shoulders, his reasoning was solid on that, they would have if they had had to wait.

"Well we could have gotten here first and secured the area first, but you couldn't provide me with a time you baka, then we could have had one while we waited." Vegeta bit back, the normal anger that was held within his tone missing, instead replaced with a mild irritation.

"Don't blame me, she didn't tell me a time! She just told me to be in the village in four days time! Besides it's only the Queen, her advisor Lady Bulma and one of their guards. It will just be Lady Bulma accompanying her into our meeting." Raising his voice, his tone piquing as he defended himself and presented his King with the information.

"Good, we can handle two women if need be." He stated confidently.

"I don't know Vegeta, don't underestimate either of them. Their beauty doesn't mean that they are helpless." Kakarot reminded him, surely he for one was aware of this and didn't want to see his King become too cocky regarding these women.

Vegeta full well intended on arguing with Kakarot about the strongest Saiya-jin warriors in the world being able to handle two ancient women of royalty and nobility. The conversation was halted as the door opened and out stepped Lady Bulma followed by the shorter dark haired woman that he assumed could only be the Queen. His eyes took them both in, Kakarot had been right, they were indeed beautiful and almost other worldly. He couldn't find it in himself to tear his eyes away from the blue haired woman standing before her, from the long curls that framed her face and fell over her shoulders to the dark blue bodice that hugged her form tightly and gave way into the full dark grey skirts that covered the full form of her hips and met the ground beneath her. She was mesmerizing, if this was what Kakarot had meant by enchanted, then he full well understood how he had ended up in his predicament with them. Finally looking away from her perfect form, his eyes met hers and he was completely captured by the sparkle in her bright blue eyes, he could have found himself lost in them quite easily.

Bulma curtsied "Your Grace, may I present to you Queen Chichi of the vampire kingdom" She motioned to the petite dark haired woman standing along side of her.

Kakarot bowed, as did Vegeta before Kakarot presented the women with much the same introduction. "Your Grace and My Lady, I present to you King Vegeta Ouji of the Saiya-jin people."

Now with the formalities aside, everyone felt that it was time to head away from the busy village and toward a more appropriate meeting place. Chichi pulled the hood of her heavy cloak over her head and Lady Bulma followed suit, earning raised eyebrows from the men who were motioned to follow them.

"We only have a short walk to my home here in the village. It will be much safer for us to meet and discuss these matters there rather than in such a public forum." Looking over her shoulder as they followed behind her.

The two women walked brusquely through the town square, passing all the shops and earning greetings from those who knew Lady Maron's presence around town. The men were able to easily keep up with the two of them, although it was becoming abundantly apparent that these two beautiful nobles were adored and respected here amongst the villagers. They seemed to hold no fear of the two, even if they knew what they were, Kakarot was beginning to doubt that they would ever come to fear them.

"What are your ties to this village Your Grace?" Kakarot spoke up as he trailed them, part of him wishing that her cloak was not covering her back side quite so thoroughly.

"I keep a home here, I bring money into the village to provide for everyone here as well as supplying food when the crops have been scarce. There are those here who run things and ensure that everyone is taken care of financially. I do not let these people live in poverty, and they pay no taxes on the land despite it falling into our territory. If needed I ensure that my soldiers provide protection, we haven't had much of a need for that thank the Goddess." She said as she stepped through another puddle as they headed down the dirt road leading through the village.

The remainder of the walk had been in silence, save for Lady Bulma quipping to her Queen about inconsequential things regarding the village, things that needed to be tended to, contacts that needed to be made and much of the like. It came to an end as they reached a decently sized home. Just as most of the village, it was constructed of stone, but the craftsmanship was clearly superior, and it was much larger than many of the other homes in the small town, despite being older it held up to the test of time. Chichi pulled a key from the inside of the belled sleeve of her dress and unlocked the front door, jiggling the handle and key a few times before the lock clicked and the door swung open. She stepped aside and allowed them to enter the front room of the home, their dirty boots immediately landing on the area rugs covering the wooden floors beneath them. Securing the door behind them, Chichi escorted everyone into the dining room, motioning with her hand for everyone to get comfortable.

Lady Bulma took her seat on one side of the table, while King Vegeta and his General took their places besides one another on the other side.

Chichi opened a large cabinet and pulled out two bottles of wine and gracefully managed to gather all the cups for the wine as well before placing them on the table. Her fingers quickly made work of the wax sealing on the bottles as she opened them and poured the dark red liquid into each of the glasses, placing the second bottle in the center for any who wished to reach for a second glass.

"Now down to the important matters. I really must thank you for deciding to attend and possibly reach a compromise. And you Kakarot for being the one to set this all up, it has been a heavy weight lifted off of my shoulders." She acknowledged them with a slight nod, bowing her head to each of them, it was a genuine appreciation she held.

"Kakarot did give me the details of your prior conversation, why should I put any faith in you or your kind? At this point you have caused us nothing but trouble and in terms of war, we should have ended this long ago." Vegeta bit out the last part at her, his temper clearly flaring just at the notion of simply sitting in her presence.

"Then Your Grace, I'm sure that Kakarot has also informed you and that you have noticed that none of my soldiers have ever made an active attack on any of your units. Additionally, I feel that I need to inform you that we had nothing to do with the death of your father. My mother adored your father, and for the last 100 years that I have been working with her to rule the kingdom, neither of us ever gave such an order." She stated calmly.

"You lying bitch!" Vegeta growled out at her, his voice raising dangerously.

Chichi raised an eyebrow and didn't even bother to bicker back with him the way that she had done with Kakarot. Although she was beginning to see what he had meant about the Ouji family temper, it was indeed something that ran in the family. But she had more social graces than him apparently when handling issues of diplomacy, then again she also had much more practice in anger management over the years than the King did at 25years old.

"So this is my half grandchild, well more like Nephew I suppose. Seems so strange since we appear to be the same age. That being the case, why pray tell would I be attacking my own family?" Chichi mused, her eyebrow remained raised as her dark eyes locked onto those of the infuriated King across the table from her.

Vegeta looked at her in stunned silence for a moment, realizing that there were clearly some details that Kakarot had left out of the conversation between them when he had returned. "You'll have to pardon my ignorance, but grandchild? I have no living grandparents and you certainly aren't one of them."

"Unfortunately, what your General was unable to tell you was that my father was your Great Grandfather, he had married my mother after the passing of his first wife and the mother of your Grandfather. I am by blood your Grandmother of sorts. Putting that all on the table, what motivation would I have to be attacking my own blood?" She asked this with a soft curiousity, her eyes never breaking contact with his. She would not have him mistaking her calm demeanor as submissiveness.

"Land and power? I'm sure that a race as ancient as yours has become greedy over time." He grumbled in response to her, having nothing better to throw back.

"Oh my, Your Grace, I barely want the power that I do have, I only have it out of responsibility and necessity since my mother's passing. As for land, I have plenty. There is absolutely no reason for my people to be at war with you and I would much rather have the blood shed stop on all accounts." Sipping at her wine she provided a very simple answer with all honesty laid forth.

"What about the attacks on our people, how many soldiers have not returned to us, or have been found dead?" Vegeta continued to question her with some vehemence, although it was quickly being drained from him.

"I explained to Kakarot that some of your people have left and chosen to reside among our villages, they are peaceful and protected spaces, without war, without famine, without poverty." She took another delicate sip of her wine and sighed lightly, not meaning to convey frustration, just simply taking a moment to decide which direction she needed to take this.

"As for the attacks, there are a number of rogue's who have defected from our society. As far as I know they have begun establishing their own colonies and militia's. They do not abide by the morals and codes that my people follow. Unfortunately due to my military being tied up defending my Kingdom from your military, I have been unable to send my own soldiers out to eliminate them. They have grown in both numbers and strength in the last 30 years since your father started this senseless war." She doodled against the wood with her hand, signaling the group outside of her own and the other details she described in an animated manner.

Vegeta sat silently and pondered on the new information, while it did make sense of what she was speaking to, he still felt that he could not blindly put his faith in them.

"So what do you propose?" He asked her.

"I propose that we make a treaty, we stop this fighting between us. With two strong warring factions at peace, we can focus on taking out the real problem not only strategically, but together. We could provide mutual protection to one another. I know an alliance may not necessarily be on the table. But imagine what we could accomplish. The scourge you speak of is out there, but it is not us." Chichi assured him, maintaining her calm. The rouges she spoke of infuriated her much the same as they did him.

"How do I know that you will not betray us and kill us after we provide assistance to you?" It was a fair question of him to ask, and she didn't think ill of him for doing so.

"Your Grace please remember full well that it is not just I getting your assistance, I would be providing that to you as well. This would mean in the future if you ever needed use of my military forces you would have access to them as I yours. I am a woman of my word." She splayed her hand out across the table top, leaning forward and looking straight across at him. She would most certainly not use her influence, but if he could see her honesty it would benefit them both.

Bulma nodded in agreement with her, that was indeed something that her Queen was, sometimes it was a fault of hers, but overall it provided her Queen with the moral fiber that her own mother had instilled in her over the last 185 years. This did not go unnoticed by Vegeta as he looked back and forth between the two women.

"I will agree to it, but we will need this written up. I won't simply take your word for it, that is not enough for me or my people. I need this to be a contract between us." He demanded surely.

"Understandable, and I have no objections to this what so ever." She shook her head lightly, she full well agreed with him, it would not only provide protection to him, but to her as well.

Chichi stood from the table and left the room, heading into her study down the long hallway leading through the house. She returned quickly with two large piece of parchment in one hand and the ink well and quill gently balanced together in her other hand. The last thing she wanted was to end up wearing the ink on one of her good dresses.

The two royals quickly set to work writing out all of their conditions for one another. Including everything from the treaty and ending of the warfare between them, to the utilization of one another's military forces in times of war when necessary and called upon. They worked on drawing lines between their lands and establishing the new watches that each of their royal guards would take, and where their military would convene to work together. It was much easier to put to paper that they work together to bring down the rogue colonies that she spoke of as it was a shared and common goal between the two of them. Their military efforts could now be more productively focused rather than sitting by and waiting to be on the offensive from an attack.

Chichi finally finished writing both her copy and the copy for Vegeta to bring back with him as well before looking up at him. "Your Grace, one of my final conditions, is that I cannot partake in any military action with you until after my coronation ball. I have not formally and publicly taken the throne in my mother's passing yet."

Her eyes traveled over and met Lady Bulma's, she knew exactly where this was going. Bulma nodded and urged her forward with what she knew was Chichi's next step, and it was an appropriate and strategic move as well.

"There is a request amongst that final condition. As an act of solidarity and peace with our new agreement. I would formally like to invite you to attend my coronation ball along with your General in a fortnight. Any mate that you have taken is welcome to attend with you as custom would dictate." Chichi fought the urge to fidget nervously as she presented her offer.

"I don't have a mate." He gruffly huffed in response.

"And neither does his general." Kakarot cleared his throat and stated this while looking away from the Queen across the table from him, unsure of what had provoked him to make that fact known.

"Women are only a distraction to a warrior." Vegeta stated calmly and factually, while Kakarot could be heard muttering that they were a more than welcomed distraction underneath his breath.

"You know that you do need to be able to provide an heir to be your successor." Lady Bulma stated while fighting back a smile at the General's response, her lips pressed together incredulously at this answer. He was just as stubborn as her own Queen and she was finding it a bit irritating, while she knew that they shared the same genes it was becoming clear just how alike the two were.

Vegeta began to argue back with her, the insults about to fall from the loose lips of an angry and irritable man, but a large hand found itself over his mouth to block it out, earning the other man the death glare of the century.

"We will be in attendance Your Grace." Kakarot responded with a smile while swallowing the realization that he would have hell to pay with Vegeta for this later.

They would indeed be attending the ball in a fortnight.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: I really do need to apologize for not getting this out sooner. I had it written but wasn't happy with some of it. Tonight my writers block lifted, and I was able to finish and edit this chapter to my liking. I have been getting messages begging me to update and it made me realize how much I had been slacking on you guys, so I'm really sorry guys. I hope this satiates you in the meantime. I'll be working on the completion and editing of Chapter 9 this weekend! I look forward to your feedback and reviews! Read and Review! Thank you all. Much love!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 8**

Chichi wasn't sure where the two weeks had disappeared to, but she had been extremely busy gathering recon on the problematic colonies that would soon be handled properly for the first time in well over two decades. When she hadn't been addressing the military plans that she would present to King Vegeta, she was being pestered by Bulma and the planners regarding the coronation ball. She had been shoved in and out of fluffy gowns, sleek fabrics, form fitting styles and some that were simply ugly and outside of what she would choose for herself. Her stubbornness had won over in the long run and she had been allowed to select her gown from the many ideas that had been presented to her.

Her query on the mysterious disappearance of time was primarily due to her confusion over the hustle and bustle of her ladies in waiting and palace staff in preparation for the evening. She had been woken up and shoved into a bath and scrubbed down before being rushed to make sure that the seamstress had her dress fitted so final alterations could be made if needed.

She was realizing that the hour of her coronation ball was fast approaching as she looked out the window at the sun making it's descent into the horizon, her ladies in waiting lighting the candles in her room as they moved about her. They had her hair set into curlers, what they were made of she wasn't sure, but she was sure that they had been treated with rose oil and smelled magnificently. Part of her wondered if this was part of Bulma's plan to keep her calm and sitting still, she had always picked Chichi's favorite oils to soothe her if she felt that she would be uncooperative. Moving around her they added the light blush to her cheeks, completed the dusting of her eyes with a dark eyeshadow complimented by a lighter cream color and applied the dark red lip stain to her pouty lips.

They shooed her from her seat and stood her in front of the mirror pulling off the robe that she had on. She always hated this part of large event, they always insisted on doing everything for her. They pulled her waist cincher on her and laced it into place before pulling the long gown over her head. The long skirts fell to the floor before they placed the hoop skirt and petticoats underneath giving the gown the desired volume. They gently pulled her tail through the specialized hole in the back of the skirts and the gown, leaving it to flick to and fro behind her. Slipping her arms into the cap sleeves, she could feel them tightening the tiny buttons down her back before they pulled her corset on her and began lacing it up tightly. The sweetheart neckline of the gown coming up over the top of the corset giving it a heart shape. Glancing down she found herself more in love with it than she had been before, the crimson dress was detailed with cream embroidery, buttons and lacing along the edges as well as the ribbons that secured her into the corset. The ladies completed their torture of lacing her in and pulled the cream colored gloves up to her elbows for her.

Standing before her they removed the last of the curlers from her hair and began pinning it atop her head, the long curls cascading down her shoulders were pinned back away from her face. Only a few small curls were left free to frame her delicate features. They finally stepped back from her and allowed her to see herself.

Looking at herself in the mirror she beamed, it was superbly her, and she needed to remember to thank Bulma for having their seamstress design the gown from scratch for her. It was indeed stunning. Running her gloved hands over the fabric of her dress brought a smile to her face. Despite being nervous about the coronation itself, at least she would look absolutely breathtaking for the evening.

One of her handmaidens told her that it was time and shuffled her away from the mirror and into the hallway, her high heels clicking against the stones as she was pushed down the hall and toward the grand stairwell.

Chichi could hear Bulma making her introduction to the ballroom below packed with nobility, commoners, other royalty and of course most notably the royalty of their newest ally. Her near still heart was almost leaping into her throat at the prospect of descending the stairwell into the crowd of people who awaited her, only to have to address their newest military strategy and ally to the crowd. She wasn't sure if there would be relief, or if it would be an absolute shit show. All she could imagine was that there was some sort of small commotion going on down there with the Saiya-jin royalty amongst the crowd.

Swallowing hard and closing her eyes, she took a deep yet unnecessary inhale, this was it. Opening her eyes she walked out of the hallway and down the marble staircase that descended into the ballroom. She took her time, elegantly and delicately taking each small step down as to ensure that her nerves didn't take over and send her ass over teakettle down the stairs in front of everyone; that was not how she wanted to be remembered as the new Queen. But she managed it and she managed it with a bright smile on her face, her hands gently holding up the front of her gown, high enough to allow her sure footing.

Reaching the final landing she stopped and stood beside Bulma, smiling and took a deep curtsy to the entire ballroom.

"Introducing Her Majesty Chichi the first of her name, by the Grace of the Goddess, of the United Vampire Kingdom Saturnia of Earth, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." Bulma spoke loudly and surely, her eyes falling upon her Queen, fighting off the smile that came to her face. She had been helping Chichi to prepare for this moment for the last 85 years, and it looked like her lessons in etiquette had finally paid off.

There was an uproar of clapping throughout the ballroom, some of the guests hailing the Queen. Chichi raised her hand to quiet the crowd, and gain their attention. All eyes were on her now, and it made her want to throw up so to speak, she hated speaking in front of crowds, but now was not the time to let her nerves take over.

"Thank you all for the honor of being your ruler and for being here to honor me as your Queen, my mother would have been proud to be here for this moment. But I must bring forth an important decision that has been made recently."

Chichi motioned with her hand and Bulma signaled to Vegeta and Kakarot to approach the Queen. They made their way from the bottom of the stairs to the landing and stood alongside the newly titled woman. There were a number of gasps throughout the crowd, some looking to the guards to take action, others stood in silence observing their Queens comfort and ease in the presence of these Saiya-jin royals.

"I have made a treaty with the Saiya-jin crown, the war between us is over. Moving forward they will be allied with our military to assist us in protecting both of our kingdom's and to remove the threat of the rogue's defected from our society. This bloodshed shall stop and henceforth we will have peace amongst us." She cleared her throat lightly and looked over at the King, her hand outstretched toward him.

"Introducing his Majesty King Vegeta Ouji fourth of his name, by the grace of the goddess of the United Saiya-jin Kingdom of Earth and Vegeta-sei, and of His other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth of Vegeta-sei and Earth, Defender of the Faith." There was clapping among the crowd, but none of the uproar that had come with Chichi's introduction. He could read the hesitation on their faces, as if they believed him here to do them harm despite their Queen's assurance.

"And of course his First Commander and General of the Saiya-jin military Kakarot Son." Once again there was clapping for his introduction, Kakarot barely noticed, his eyes were locked on her as she smiled over at him. He decided that hearing her say his name meant a hell of a lot more to him than having her people acknowledge him right now.

"On with the celebrations!" Bulma exclaimed after a long moment of silence. It was time to get this moving, and Chichi was clearly off in her own world.

The crowd began to disperse toward to tables set out with extravagant foods and wine, and bustling about the dance floor as the music began playing once again. Although the buzz of people whispering amongst each other as they continued to watch the Queen interact with the Saiya-jin royalty with intrigue and concern.

Vegeta took the Queen's hand and bowed to her before kissing her hand, Kakarot followed suit and did the same. But his hand held hers a little longer and his eyes met hers, leaving himself feeling stunned by her.

"Thank you Your Grace." Vegeta stated, interrupting the moment between the two.

"No thank you, if you hadn't considered the proposal we would not be here right now." Vegeta nodded in agreement with her. It hadn't been an easy decision, but it was one that he felt needed to be made.

Now as he stood among them, he struggled to reconcile the image that his father and his small council had painted for him all these years with the sophisticated and eloquent crowd before him. They were seeming less and less like monsters and more like a civilized breed who had contemptuous relationships with the royals before him. While Kakarot had explained to him what he knew, he was of course curious for more, it seemed like she had much to teach him about his own lineage that had been kept from him over the years.

Vegeta realized that he would have to inquire with her about this later as Kakarot had busied himself with guiding the Queen from the landing down the remaining stairs into the expansive ballroom. No sooner had she reached the floor before she was swept off to dance by one of the nobles of her kindred, leaving Kakarot grumbling and scowling in her absence. Vegeta could have outright laughed at his General but quickly found himself in the same position as the Queen's blue haired advisor was also pulled away to dance with some Lord or other.

"Kakarot, stop flirting with their Queen you imbecile." Vegeta grumbled out at his General.

"Only if you stop drooling over her advisor." He smirked and chuckled, knowing that he was full well putting his foot in his mouth.

"I'll stop when I damn well please." Vegeta snapped back at him, finding himself irritated that he had been caught out to begin with, the idiot was never supposed to notice. It was another reminder that he was not nearly as dense as Vegeta often assumed him to be.

"Sure you will. At least I know what mine looks like without all the frills and clothing on." Kakarot fired back in response, a bigger smirk gracing his features as he thought about it. But he hadn't expected a further rebuttal from his friend.

"Yours? And when did you see her naked?" Vegeta raised his eyebrow, asking his companion gruffly while a smug smirk plastered on his face. He thoroughly enjoyed watching his General squirm and attempt to avoid the conversation by running off to grab a drink from one of the servers. 

* * *

Kakarot stood at the doors to the balcony outside of the grand ballroom, the cool breeze ran over his skin as he took a sip of his scotch on the rocks. It was strange being in this palace for the first time as a fully welcomed guest rather than an intruder, he was finding that he much more enjoyed the hospitality he was provided to the attacks and dealing with her guards.

His eyes followed the curve of the Queen's body as she stood out on the balcony, her gloved hands resting on the marble balustrades. She had yet to notice his presence, which he found strange for such an alert and instinctual woman. It was clear that she was distracted, but he didn't feel that he could approach her. Afterall their comradery was only born out of a military treaty, he wasn't something that she would consider a friend by any means. Despite this he couldn't help but feel a pull toward her, a twinge of guilt at his mental refusal to interact with her.

"Is everything alright Your Grace?" The draw had been too much, and he approached her tentatively after alerting her to his presence as to not frighten or anger her this evening.

"We're alone Kakarot, it's just Chichi. Please. All these formalities make me uncomfortable." A light laugh fell from her dark red lips, it wasn't bitter, it wasn't of humor. He could feel the anxiety practically rolling off of her this evening, it explained her distracted demeanor.

"Well considering the events tonight, I would say that those formalities will not be going away any time in the future." He laughed halfheartedly at the situation, it most certainly would not be going away.

"No I suppose not. Would you care to join me in the gardens? I would very much like to get out of here for a walk." Chichi looked around to make sure that her council and her advisors weren't lurking nearby, she had felt like she was being babysat today to ensure good behavior from her. It was unnecessary and almost made her want to be oppositional in spite of it, in lieu of that, she would gladly take a small break away from the noise and the celebration. 

* * *

Vegeta sat at the table as the guest of honor for the coronation, he was finding himself quite bored with such a frilly social event, which explained why their own Queen had disappeared from the event not too long ago. Apparently they were much more alike than he had previously realized. Although he was frustrated with his presence being required, he was thoroughly enjoying that he had spent the night staring at the Queen's blunette advisor. She had worn a stunning violet gown that hugged her in all right places before it flowed down to the floor in tiered layers of chiffon and satin. She had sashayed about all night greeting guests and keeping her own Queen in line. It had been evident that despite her title she helped to run the show, and he couldn't help but ponder how well she would do ruling as a Queen herself.

His attention finally returned to reality and he found the advisor standing by the edge of the table, she was muttering something about Chichi having disappeared to which he answered quickly that it had been only a couple of minutes. Glancing up at the beauty that stood before him, he wanted to ask her to dance, pride be damned, it had been driving him nuts all night seeing her be whisked away by the young men who desired her attention and most likely her body as well.

"Woman, will you dance with me?" Hearing the tone of his voice he almost visibly cringed, quickly realizing that if he had asked a little nicer she may have said yes.

"I'll dance with you if you stop being such an asshole about the whole event. You've been sitting here scowling all night long." Bulma smirked at him and rested her hand on her hip while she sipped at the glass of champagne in her hand.

"I'll scowl if I want, I'm the King of the Saiya-jins!" Huffing indignantly at her response, although he wasn't sure what he was expecting for how he had gone about his request in the first place.

"I'm sure that I can give you a reason not to scowl if you'll let me." He was taken aback, while he continued to be prideful and his normal self she seemed to be unbothered by his manners or lack thereof.

Vegeta had long ago discovered that many women loved his title, they loved his wealth, but when it came down to loving him, he couldn't find the one that was genuine, the one that he wouldn't mind having rule by his side as his mate. They were all shallow vapid creatures even among the warrior class he found the women were selfish and controlled by their motives and drive for power. He wasn't about to provide that power to anyone if he could help it. Plus he really hadn't found one that could handle his personality and his temper and match him just the same, which was beginning to look like a rather impossible task.

"Well Your Grace did you hear me the first time or must I repeat myself?" She asked him, removing her hand from her hip and placing her now empty champagne flute on the table in front of them.

"I heard you just fine woman." He grumbled as he stood from his seat and approached the dance floor with her hand delicately placed in his own. Wrapping his other arm around her waist he took the lead as they began their dance as the center of attention.

Lady Bulma leaned in closer, leaning herself almost against his shoulder, her lips brushing against his ear. For a moment he swore she just wanted to be closer to him. "Call me woman again and I'll make you regret it baka."

A smirk played on his lips as he fought the urge to argue with her right here on the dance floor. If she wanted to turn this into a quarrel she was going to find that she was sorely mistaken in thinking that she had the upper hand with him.

"And what makes you think that you can make me regret anything woman?" He quipped back in a hushed tone, the smirk remaining plastered on his features.

"Oh you just wait, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty." Her breath tickled against his ear, and for a moment he could swear that she was teasing him.

"You couldn't handle me at your strongest, good luck." Vegeta bit out arrogantly.

"I would say screw you, but I would much rather not." He drew back from her, continuing their flawless dance with one another despite their quiet exchange. His eyebrows furrowed together for only a moment before a smug smirk played across his lips.

"I could change your mind there." That was something that he was confident of.

"I highly doubt that." The dare danced in her tone as she smirked back at him, her own cockiness easily rivaling his own.

The song ended and Bulma pulled herself from his grasp, only to find that he had not let go of the hand that had been intertwined with his. Instead he followed her off of the dance floor and grabbed two of the wine glasses from one of the passing servers. He handed one to her and took a large gulp of his own before facing her and letting his dark eyes meet the piercing blue of her own.

"Where did you learn to be such a stubborn bitch?" Vegeta asked her without hesitation or sugar coating.

"I could ask you the same, but I already know the answer. I have spent 185 years arguing with one of your family members. I perfected my craft long before you were even born." Bulma delicately sipped at the crimson liquid, being mindful to keep her eyes out for her Queen despite her currently entanglement with the arrogant prince.

"Only 185 years? Sounds like you're still an amateur." He chuckled.

"Not really, before that it was your Great Grandfather I often had it out with. Although those interactions were not nearly as friendly as this one." She grumbled in response, the last part much quieter than the rest of her statement.

"Do tell me more woman." This time it was curiosity and not provocation the spurred him on.

Glancing up at him dryly, her eyebrow raised at him she shook her head no. They had just gone over this a handful of times. It was very clear to her that Vegeta descended from Chichi, both bullheaded and stubborn as one could be. "I would much rather not right now. Tomorrow morning ask me again when the chaos has settled down."

Bulma headed to the balcony with her own wine glass in hand, the stubborn King following closely behind her. The train of the long satin dress trailed behind her elegantly.

Vegeta could have kicked himself a million times over this evening, he was attempting to hide some of his less refined qualities like his nasty attitude problem and entitlement, but was failing. He felt like an infatuated teenager following tail around, the only difference now was that his primary concern was not getting laid, but rather getting and holding her attention. To put it simply he was completely enamored of this woman he had only met twice. The way that she spoke, her feisty attitude, her complete disregard of his title and the obvious loyalty that she carried for others had his attention. But her looks, the beauty of her porcelain skin and her pink lips were only accentuated by the royal color of the gown that hugged her voluptuous curves.

Staring out into the darkness of the night she smiled wistfully and looked up at the stars sparkling overhead, it had been a perfect evening for an event which had surprisingly gone smoothly despite all their concerns surrounding the evening. She blinked and turned back to King Vegeta before looking past him, her eyes scanning the expanse of the ballroom before coming back to meet his. A realization dawning upon her.

"Vegeta, where is Kakarot?" 

* * *

Kakarot hadn't respond to her, but simply followed behind her as she ducked past people and down the front staircase heading toward the entrance to the gardens. For some reason the silence didn't feel strange at all, in fact it felt quite comfortable to him. Which was something he had always been strange about with other women, he always felt the need to fill the silences, but she somehow made it feel alright, that they didn't need an exchange between them. As she glided through the open double doors out into the garden, he could hear her sigh of contentment, a release from the bonds of her title, even if only for a moment. The garden was decorated in paper lanterns, the candlelight flickering from within them, giving the entire place an enchanted feel. And while a few people mulled around through the greenery and vibrantly colored flowers, the majority of the noise was the music from the ballroom drifting out into the magical space.

"So you never answered when I asked if you were alright. Is something wrong Your Gr….. Chichi?" Kakarot quickly corrected himself trying to abide by her unique wishes.

"It's just all a little too much, I know these events as a Queen are expected. But goddess I get sick of greeting people and having everyone touch me. Too many people all at once I suppose. It's a sensory overload, plus I haven't fed in a few days so I'm a little bit peevish." Chichi grumbled the last part out, finally realizing herself just how long it had been since she last fed. It was beginning to make sense why she was feeling so surly and out of sorts.

"You haven't fed huh? So what does that mean for you?" Kakarot asked coyly.

"Well I just overall don't feel like I'm at full strength, but much like you Saiya-jins I tend to get a little grouchy with others. Bulma has dubbed that Hangry. It's something that full bloods don't get, but I certainly do." She giggled a little at the word, her smile playing on the corner of her lips for a moment. It was a silly thing, but it was very much part of her.

"So I wouldn't stand a chance with you when you haven't fed?" He asked her, she didn't see the smile on his face as they walked side by side.

"Don't push it, I could still destroy you dear, hungry or satiated." She bit out, the honeyed tone to her voice never leaving, very much a veiled threat standing between them.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." He had stopped walking and turned to face her as they came to stand under the largest tree at the edge of the gardens, the willow branches brushing past them with the slight breeze.

If she had been able to blush she would have, she had attempted to ignore the insinuation, but with him clarifying for her it was making his implications much more difficult to pass by. It also meant that most of her excuses would be brushed to the wayside with that out in the open. She couldn't just evade him the way she so desperately wished to at the moment.

"Then again I like you grouchy, you're stunning when you're angry." Kakarot downed the last sips of scotch in one gulp as he took another step toward her. He reached up and moved a curl away from her face, finding himself only inches from her face as he looked down at her.

Chichi shoved him back and away from her, closing her eyes as she heard him stumble a few steps. Kakarot was really pushing it with her, he was getting in her space, and unfortunately for her, he smelled amazing, everything about him was enticing her in more than one way. Her refusal to feed from others wasn't stopping the internal storm that raged within her, she couldn't help but wonder what he tasted like, how he would react to her if she did bite him and more importantly if she could control herself if need be. The sensual image dancing through her head causing her deadened heart to race within her chest, heat beginning to pool between her legs as her mind took her there unwillingly, causing her self-restraint to waver if only for a second.

"Did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to cross a line. I was just being honest with you." Kakarot stepped toward her, his voice calm and even despite the concern that lingered in his voice and within his eyes.

"Kakarot it's for your own good. It's not that you did anything wrong, but I don't know how strong my self control is right now." Chichi responded, pushing down the hunger that was raging within her, the animal that was struggling to get her to lash out at him, to follow her instincts.

"What if I don't want you to be controlled?" He asked her, his tone dropping seductively.

A shudder traveled up her spine and her tail fluffed behind her at the husky tone of his voice. She backed up underneath the tree, her back finally pressing up against the defensive wall that surrounded the castle and gardens. Her knees wanted to give way underneath her as he continued to step toward her with a new found confidence he had not had with her before. The temptation was grinding at her, not even to feed from him, but to take him upstairs and do unspeakable things with him that they had only dreamed of thus far. She was beginning to feel that he had been the one to enchant her and not the other way around from the way that her body reacted to his attention.

"You've been drinking, I won't let go of my control unless I know you're really ok with it." Her voice wavered for a second as she looked away from him.

His hand came to rest on her hip when he leaned forward, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered to her. "I want you to just let go Chichi."

Chichi's breath hitched in her chest and she swallowed hard at the insinuation he was making. There were awful ideas running through her head, and while she knew she needed to return to the ball and be responsible, she was struggling to tear herself away from the heated situation. His breath against her neck was just a little much for her and she closed her eyes and clenched her thighs together underneath the massive volume of her gown. Her eyes fluttered open once again, locking onto his as he stood before her, his nose practically touching hers. He licked his hungry lips, debating on if he could press this further. That was what pushed her over the edge.

Grabbing him by the lapels of his dark tailed suit she flipped the roles and pushed him back against the wall, her lips clashing against his, her hands let go of his jacket and traveled up into his hair pressing them into their kiss. Kakarot closed his eyes and kissed her back, his tongue darting out to taste her demanding lips, without further prompting she opened her mouth and allowed him the access he desired. Her tongue delicately twirling around his, fighting him for dominance of the kiss. His hands had found their way to her hips and pressed her smaller figure against him, one hand traveling to the small of her back while the other moved up to cup her cheek.

"Your Grace? Your Grace?" the person called out from the entrance to the gardens, apparently her lack of presence had indeed finally been noticed.

It was of course Lady Bulma, she would have been hard pressed to say that she was surprised when she had discovered her Queen missing, but she was simply not surprised in the least, in fact she was pleased to bits when she had realized that Vegeta's General had been missing as well.

Pulling away from the heated kiss, Chichi rested her forehead against his chest and took a deep breath to calm her raging desires. She should not have let this get out of hand, especially considering the circumstances of the evening, it was highly inappropriate of her. But she couldn't help herself with him, she wasn't sure if it was the bond, if it was everything about him, or if she was simply craving physical contact. What she couldn't deny was that there was something spectacular about intimacy with the warm blooded races and specifically him.

"We'll have to continue this later my lady." The teasing tone sent another shiver across her flesh, it was something that she wanted more than anything at the moment, but he was right, it was going to have to wait.

Chichi moved to step away from him, but his hand around her waist held her flush against him. His thumb grazed gently against her slightly flushed cheek before brushing a dark curl away from her face.

"You're so cold right now." It was more him musing out loud than meant to be for her ears, but it spilled forth none the less.

"I told you that I hadn't fed at all, I swear I'm not always this cold to the touch." She smiled up at him contentedly and leaned in to place a chaste kiss upon his lips once more. She could hear the hurried footsteps fast approaching through the fallen leaves on the path of the garden.

"Chichi, where have you been?" Bulma's voice trailed off as Chichi came into view, standing beneath the ancient tree in an intimate position with the very General that Bulma had been talking up over the past two weeks.

"I'm sorry Bulma, I was feeling a bit faint with everyone about. You know that I don't handle crowds too well. Kakarot noticed my distress and escorted me for a walk." She made sure to conveniently leave out all of the other details that her best friend didn't need to know, she really didn't feel like having her harping on her for the remainder of the evening.

Bulma wasn't stupid, she knew damn well what had been doing on out there, but decided that nagging her best friend about the events transpiring was not going to be helpful in the least. She headed back through the gardens with her Queen in tow, she needed her present today, this was afterall her coronation and she was busy running off with the General instead of tending to her duties.

Chichi followed after her, she wanted to huff about it and not deal with the strain of being on proper behavior for a social event that if she had had her way would not have happened to begin with. Unfortunately as tradition dictated she knew that she needed to suck it up and follow etiquette for the remainder of the evening. Even with Kakarot following behind them, she could smell him on her skin and it was driving her absolutely mad. She had long since decided that this would be something that they would continue once they were free of responsibility for the night.

They entered the palace through the open double doors in the common room that they had exited out from and made their way back through the hallways toward the bustle of the crowd gathered here for her. Chichi began making her way back up the set of marble stairs, watching her steps as to not fall back into Kakarot behind her. Her nose twitched picking up on a strange scent that had not been present before; the familiar coppery scent of blood.

The sudden screams and panic of those within the ballroom caught her attention immediately, her body tensed as she readied herself. As she finished ascending the last of the stairs with a jolt of speed, leading back in from the gardens she assessed the situation. There was blood coating the ballroom floor, at least 4 of the guests had been attacked, although it seemed at the moment that only 2 of them had been fatal, the other two struggled to move away from their attackers. From what she could see there were at bare minimum 5 of the rogue vampires, clearly un-invited guests within her home. Their attention was drawn away from their victims as they spotted the Queen approaching, she was the real target after all, the injured guests both mortal and immortal alike wrangled themselves free of their grasps and stumbled toward the safety of the hallways.

This had not been the plan for the evening, and now it was something that she intended to handle herself since it was obvious that her guards had been unable to fulfill their duties.

"I'll take those two" She pointed to the two in the center of the chaos. "Bulma, you, Vegeta and Kakarot handle the others."

The tall pale male vampire stood in the middle of the ballroom, blood dripping from his face as he finished feeding on one of the noble human guests. Her blood boiled within her veins as she leapt forward, her motions so fast that he didn't have the chance to follow her and counter her at all. She swept her leg out taking his feet from underneath him, her other knee landing in the middle of his back before he headed to the floor itself. His body had barely landed before she was upon him, before she grabbed him and snapped his head to the side. The audible crack resounding through the air. The sound garnering a gasp from some of the guests cowering away from the situation.

Standing to her feet her eyes met those of the other rogue who had dared to intrude on her coronation.

"Long live the halfbreed bitch!" He spat at her in distain, a mouthful of blood now dripping down her cheek.

Chichi dove forward and landed a punch to his face, hearing the bones crackling underneath her fist. He dodged to the left and away from her, causing her to change her course as she threw her weight behind the next kick that landed in the center of his chest throwing him back and away from her. Glancing around cautiously she ensured that everyone was outside of their range. The rogue moved forward in attack, but found that her fist once again landed squarely in his face before she grabbed him by the throat. Despite her petite stature she lifted him off of his feet.

"We are many, and we are coming! You cannot defeat us!" He hissed through his compressed airway.

"The halfbreed bitch disagrees, now watch me." She hadn't even raised her voice, or given indication of her attack, but her next movement was fluid and sudden.

The creature wasn't given another moment to respond as she pulled him in closer, her fangs sinking in to the front of his throat cracking clean through his windpipe, his blood spraying across her as she twisted her head and separated his esophagus from his body, the sickening gurgling subsiding quickly as she dove back in, lapping at the gaping wound swallowing a few mouthfuls of the rogue's thickened blood. Blood that he had stolen violently from her guests. She dropped his body to the ground with a thud. His dark red blood stained her gown and coated her face and neck.

Kakarot paused and dropped the dead body of the final attacker. His eyes scanned over the Queen. He couldn't tell if any of the blood was her own, but from the looks of the other vampire laying at her feet he was assuming easily that none of it was hers. He had caught the glimpses of her fight and had fully intended on assisting her in taking out the two that she faced off with, but it appeared that she didn't really need his help managing that feat.

He took another couple of steps toward her, he could see the fire burning there within her eyes. This, this had been the scourge she had been speaking of. Clearly it wasn't something only his Kingdom dealt with if they were making direct attacks at the Queen. While part of him wanted to be afraid of her after seeing her impressive display of strength and power, he couldn't help but be impressed, her prowess had been unmatched.

"Chichi are you alright?" He asked her, still alert to their surroundings in the event that it was not over yet.

"Fucking Bastards! Yes I'm fine." Her blood soaked curls falling into her face as she whipped around to fully face him. She hadn't mean to snap at him, but she had yet to come down from the rage and subsequent adrenaline rush.

Chichi could see Bulma speaking to the guards present in the ballroom, sending them to find reinforcements and do a full search of the palace. She wanted the palace secured, and immediately.  
Bulma approached her and placed her hands on her shoulders, surveying any damage that may have been done to her and finding none. She handed a cloth napkin to Chichi and let her wipe a majority of the blood from her face and neck with frustrated angry motions.

"They were the only ones who attacked. The guards are clearing the rest of the palace. Once your room is secure I would like you to retire for the evening, I'll handle everything else." Bulma reassured her as she looked her over for possible damage. This had been exactly what they had worried about and planned for, she wasn't sure how they had slipped by.

"You know Bulma, this will be the first time that you won't have to ask me twice." Chichi spat, a small sardonic laugh marking her bitter statement.

Chichi stormed away from the corpse at her feet that would rapidly disintegrate in the next hour, leaving them with nothing. The guards would search them for any evidence. For now she determined that she was absolutely and completely done with this bullshit for the night. She would let the guards handle this, she would let Bulma make a statement to the guests and ensure them that the problem was under control. She quickly ascended the grand staircase from the ballroom and made her way through the maze of hallways leading off to her room. Hearing the hurried footsteps behind her, she whipped around, about ready to chew apart who ever had the audacity to bother her while she was busy fuming over the intrusion of her home.

The words didn't get the chance to fall from her mouth. It was the original intruder of her space, the one who had managed to barge into her home and somehow left her feeling comfortable with him despite it all. She found herself eye level with Kakarot's chest, blood smeared across the once pristine white dress shirt. Her heart caught in her throat, her eyes traveling up his chest, his neck, his handsome face, finally meeting his dark chocolate eyes.

"You said you were fine, but you're not Chichi are you?" It was less a question and more of a statement, he already knew what the answer would be if she was honest with him.

"Kakarot now is not the time, I want to be alone right now." She snarled out between clenched teeth, her fangs pricking into her bottom lip in anger. Her anxious nerves thinly veiled by the seething temper that boiled over in its stead.

"Do you really?" He asked her, concern clear in his calm voice.

Part of her wanted to take that as a challenge, the other part of her shuddered at the deep tone in his voice. There was a protectiveness there, one that vastly differed from Bulma, Christian or any of her other guardians. He took another step forward into her space, pushing her boundaries, his body now flush against hers, his arms wrapping around her petite form, not even caring that they were both still covered in the remnants of their fight. One arm held her protectively against him, while the other traveled up and down her back, finally coming to rest in the long mess of curls that had fallen from the top of her head, rubbing the base of her neck.

"No, not really. And no I'm not fine, how am I supposed to be fine when there is so much evil in the world? When so many want me dead? No, I'm not ok at all." She sighed and leaned her forehead against his chest, her eyes closing as she finally let go of the weight she carried on her shoulders.

"Let me make it ok for you tonight? Please?" It was a quiet question, almost a demand. A protective need to be close to her pulling at his being, his instincts screaming at him to not allow her to leave his sight.

"How?" Her response came out as a whine, less defensive than before.

"I don't know, but at least let me try." He didn't want to beg, but he would if he needed to. All he needed was for her to say yes.

A small nod against his chest registered with him and brought a small smile to his face. He didn't expect her to let him in all at once, but if she put even the smallest amount of trust in him, then it would be a start now wouldn't it. Bringing his hand between them he brushed her hair back away from her face, his fingers finding their way under her chin, lifting her face to meet his. Leaning forward he placed a kiss on her forehead, another on her nose before his lips met hers. He could feel her body melt against his when his lips moved against hers, she was much warmer now than she had been less than an hour ago.

Backing against the wall, he leaned himself back, he was not about to corner her with her senses on such high alert, he promised to try to make her feel safe, and despite his usually clueless demeanor he wasn't inconsiderate. He allowed her to lean into his body while he kissed her gently and sweetly never demanding more than she was offering. A small whimper escaped her lips as she leaned in further, standing on tip toes to reach him, her hands now scrunching the front of his bloodied dress shirt.

Chichi pulled away from the kiss, looking up at him with a different fire sparkling in her eyes, the one that he adored to see there. "If I recall correctly, Bulma exiled me to my room for the rest of the evening. With everyone busy, who will be my guard for the night?"

Her tone was playful, and much lighter than it had been all night, and he reveled in that. Of course he knew what she was insinuating, he was a bit naive at times, but he knew damn well when a woman was trying to get him out of his pants. Which was perfect, as it had been his goal the entire night if she had so wished.

Chichi backed away from Kakarot and into her bedroom door, biting at her bottom lip as she opened it and slipped inside. Although she found it hard to be seductive while covered in the blood of others, if he hadn't been scared away now, then she was sure that this was a done deal. Kakarot happily followed after her, shutting her door behind them and locking it tightly. She beckoned with a wave of her finger for him to follow her as she lead him toward the private bath connected to her room, her arm wrenched up behind her making quick work of the lacing on her corset in order to pull it away. Dropping it on the floor she stepped over it and looked over her shoulder, he trailed behind her, his eyes glued to her form, the swaying of her hips with each step entrancing him further. She quickly made work on the tiny buttons on the back of the dress and let it drop to the floor as well, stepping out and over it, leaving a trail of her bloodied elegant clothing into the bath room.

Licking the blood off of her lips, she smirked at him and dropped her underwear away as well. Turning to face him, he stared over her now naked form. His brain had long since tuned out the fact that she was indeed covered in blood until she licked it away from her luscious red stained lips.

He had never seen a woman handle a fight as calmly and as adeptly as she had. Saiya-jin women fought ruthlessly, but she was skilled in a different way. Her movements had been fluid and planful, even up until she had snapped the neck on one of the rogue's, and sunk her fangs into the throat of another. While the battle hardened General had fought alongside women before, he had never thought that seeing a woman rip the throat out of her enemy using her fangs would be what had him drooling over her. But it definitely had him craving her.

Stepping into the scalding water of the tub she wiped the blood off her face and licked her fingers once again, reveling in the taste, before she dipped under the water and came up mostly clean. She ran her fingers through her now straight wet hair, pushing it back from her face. He had all he could do to not dive in after her completely clothed. He managed to pull his self-restraint together and began stripping himself of his clothing, tossing his now ruined suit onto the floor as well with her blood soaked gown.

Following suit he stepped into the large marble tub built into the marble floor of the pristine bathing room. Dipping beneath the water as she had done he re-emerged, his spiky hair retaining it's strange gravity defying shape. He took another step toward her, meeting her in the middle, the hot water splashing around their waists. Her wet hands found their way to his stomach and traced their way up his chest and draped over his shoulders, allowing her to pull him down to kiss her once again. It was soft and sweet and still somehow took her breath away.

He moved them backward to the marble shelf that ran the length of the tub, pulling her forward into his lap when the back of his legs hit it letting him know he could fall back onto it to sit. Her chest pressed against his as her head found its way to rest on his shoulder. A soft sigh slipping from her lips as he grabbed one of the available sponges and began wiping her down, taking the time to focus on what little blood still lingered on her flesh. Her eyes had closed and she nuzzled herself closer to him. For a moment he could swear he could hear a contented purr rumbling within her chest. In the moment he knew that if he had not sworn his allegiance to Vegeta he could have easily promised it to her for the rest of eternity if it meant being this close to her.

Chocolate eyes fluttered open as she moved to sit up facing him, her bare breasts pressed against his chest. His eyes left hers and traveled to the pouty red lips that fell open before her pink tongue darted out to lick them hungrily. With that simple thing he was on her, his lips meeting hers in a frenzied kiss, his hand burying itself in her dark wet locks pressing her further into the kiss as their lips worked against one another.

Beneath her she could feel his hardened length pressed against her bottom, she smiled into the kiss before grinding her hips down against him, the gyration of her hips drawing a deep moan from his throat. He nipped at her bottom lip and pulled away to watch her face when he pressed his hips up against her meeting her own teasing motions. He barely registered her movements as she reached her hand between her legs to stroke his length, his head swimming in the sensation of her touch as she stroked him from base to tip over and over again.

His free hand found its way between them, delving between the soft pink folds of her womanhood. His middle finger stroked over the little nub causing her to buck against him and losing her momentum in her sweet torture of him. He repeated the motion again before finding a rhythm, his fingers moving against her in small circles, pulling little whimpers and moans from her. It was almost more than he could stand as he watched her eyes slip closed, the look on her face conveying the absolute ecstasy she was feeling from his ministrations.

Kakarot boosted her up out of the tub, placing her ass on the marble floor, one hand pushing her down onto her back, while the other traced up the inside of her thigh causing her to part her legs for him. He leaned forward and kissed the inside of her thigh before biting gently starting above her knee and moving closer to her heated womanhood, eliciting a gasp as he got closer to his destination. Glancing up at her as she watched his actions over her exposed breasts, she bit down on her lip when his tongue brushed over the swollen sweet spot there, her hips pressing forward toward his mouth.

A loud moan slipped from her lips as his tongue found the motion against her. His hands held her hips in place as she desperately fought to press herself further against him. Her control slipping with every lap of his skilled tongue, bringing her closer to her edge. Sliding a finger into her tight wet womanhood and then another, he thrust them into her slowly each time, his fingers finding their pace with the quick licks of his tongue against her clit. Chichi's hands buried themselves in his hair and ground against him as he felt her inner walls tighten around his fingers. Keeping his pace, he watched as her eyes rolled back, her body twitching, and her breath hitched in her throat, moaning out his name as she hit her peak.

It was not yet time for rest though, and while he grinned at her while he licked her juices off of his lips, her moved to crawl over her. Settling himself between her legs, the head of his throbbing erection rubbing against the dripping wetness her hand on his chest stopped him. Chichi shook her head no slowly. "My bed, now."

Scooping her up from the marble floor of the bathing room, he headed straight for her bed as instructed. Dropping her soaking form onto the silk sheets, he leaned over her taking a nipple into his mouth once, her back arching toward him as she spread her legs. Kakarot rubbed the head of his manhood against her wet warmth again, pressing only that much of himself inside of her earning a whimper. Her legs found their way around his waist and as he moved to pull back to tease her, she pulled him deeper in filling her completely. It was his turn to groan, her insides hugging him tightly while she ground her hips against his. He pulled out of her thrusting into her again fully and slowly, trying to maintain his control, the little whimpers and moans with every motion were driving him insane.

Unwrapping her legs from his waist she slipped away from him earning a frustrated growl from the man, he was tugged forward onto the bed and found himself pinned beneath her. She crawled over his prone body, her eyes meeting his as she stalked him like he was prey. Nipping her way up along his chest to his neck, her fangs barely pricking at the exposed flesh there, a hiss of air from his mouth caused her to smirk as he tried to position her hips over his own. For a moment she enjoyed the arduous torture she was imparting upon him, the lust in his eyes let her know exactly what he wanted, and she was content to make him wait until she decided to give in to him.

Chichi finally obliged him and squatted over him, the balls of her feet providing her the balance she needed to move over him, sliding herself down along his length agonizingly slow before increasing her pace. Her hand rested on his stomach as she pumped him in and out of her warmth, her other hand massaging her breast. Closing his eyes he leaned back into the pillow groaning out her name, his hands gripping her waist as she rode him. He was struggling to keep his control as she impaled herself on his member over and over again, her tight velveteen walls hugging him. His hips thrust up to meet hers, he swore that he was going to lose himself within her. The soft warm wetness twitched around his member, her pants and moans becoming more shallow, urging him to continue the sensuous torture of their bodies together, and he obliged her.

"Oh god, Kakarot! Say my name!" She demanded between desperate whimpers.

"Fuck, oh god, Chichi!" He grunted her name out loud as he watched the flushed expression on her face.

Chichi gasped, her nails dragging across his chest as her soft velvet walls began to convulse around his member, her entire body shuttering over him. She was just as intoxicating as he imagined that she would be as she came for him, the little moans and whimpers from her lips were divine to his ears. But she didn't stop moving, she continued to pump herself up and down on him, her breasts bouncing with each thrust. His hips thrust up to meet hers a couple more times before he pressed himself into her a final time. With that she tightened around him, letting out a final husky moan, her hips bucking against his as he spilled himself inside her. His cock twitching with its release.

"KAKAROT!"

Falling against his chest, her forehead pressed against his flesh as she panted shallow erratic breaths, her thighs still twitching as she laid against him. He felt her wiggle and purposefully tighten herself around him, dragging another moan from him, now glancing up at him with a smirk on her face. She was a vixen, but she was his vixen and she drove him completely and utterly mad in the most amazing way.

Moving his hips he slipped out of her warmth gaining a little whimper from her and a pout. Pulling her up toward his side he tucked her underneath his arm, her body pressing against his side while her legs tangled themselves with his. Her tail had readjusted itself and found its way back to wrap securely around his thigh once again, his own tail finding it's way around her waist holding her against him. Swiftly he pulled the blankets up over them and settled them in beneath their warmth, the silk of the sheets cool against their flesh.

Once more he heard the light contented sigh from her, bordering on a light purr, her eyes closing as her head nuzzled against his shoulder affectionately. He leaned closer and placed a kiss on the top of her head, he couldn't say with certainty that she had fallen asleep, but the sudden stillness of her and the light even breaths were a good sign. Maybe this hadn't been the solution to her night, but it had worked, she was ok and she felt safe. That was what mattered most following the chaos.

Kakarot couldn't help but think to all the other women he had been with over the years, and was finding that none of them stuck with them, none of them even came close to her. They had all been lukewarm for him, she was pure ecstasy. They were all about his power, she was all about being the one with the power. They had all been battle hardened and sexed up, she was simply seductive and lithe, she was more intoxicating than he could have possibly imagined. Somehow everything else paled in comparison to the otherworldly beauty of the woman beside him.

This had most certainly been better than his dreams, without a doubt and he was finding himself quickly addicted to the drug that she was.

Before the sun would rise there was to be many a repeat performance, the echoes of their passionate carnal relations would fill her room over and over again.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be. Remember this is all Akira Toriyama's idea's warped for our enjoyment!

A/N: I wanted to get this one edited and posted for you guys by the end of the weekend, looks like I sort of made it! This one is filler really, the next one carries back into the story line. But I hope that you like it none the less. I'll hopefully have the next chapter edited and completed in the next week for you all. I look forward to your feedback and reviews! Read and Review! Thank you all. Much love!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

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**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 9**

Chichi rolled her torso cracking her back in the process, her arms stretching out over her head in the massive bed, the sheets tangling around her legs. Her toes brushed against the solid calf muscles of the legs wrapped together with hers, the black silk sheets binding them together and holding them in place. She couldn't say that she didn't find herself surprised at the warm body pressed against hers this morning, for she was surprised that he had indeed spent the night, well and most of the day with her. Part of her had figured that there would be some shame from him as she had found with mortals after the fact. But he had not snuck off when they finished and somehow it pleased her to bits.

Finding her way back against his body she draped herself over his defined chest and nuzzled her cheek against his flesh playfully. He was awake and she knew it, despite the fact that his eyes were still shut, his breathing gave him away. She could see him fighting off the smile as her fingers moved up his sides against his skin. If he wasn't going to play with her, she wasn't going to make it easy for him to continue resting. A smirk grew on her face as she nipped at the flesh on his pectorals, her sharp canines pricking him lightly enough that she didn't break skin.

The response she got was much to her liking. In a lighting fast reflex he had wrapped his arms around her and flipped their positions. His body now rested on top of hers, pinning her to the mattress beneath them. He scooted her up in his arms, his eyes meeting hers for the millionth time in the last 12 hours. His eyes left hers and traveled to her lips, finding her delicate pink tongue darting out to lick them.

He hardened again at the thoughts of what he would love to be doing to her, and she was clearly pleased with it as her smirk went from playful to devilishly seductive at the feeling of his erection pressing against her thigh.

"Again already love?" Chichi asked him coyly.

"It's your fault that I can't get enough of you." He buried his face against her neck, leaving a trail of kisses and small bites in his wake as his mouth traveled over her collarbone.

Chichi's tail tightened around his thigh, pressing him closer against her body, his actions drawing a hoarse whimper from her throat. She had screamed his name enough this morning, that she was most certain that by now anyone within earshot knew exactly who she had taken to her bed after the ball last night. If they kept this up she was sure that she would lose her voice completely. There was not one complaint regarding that, not at all.

"Down boy, down." She managed to gasp out as her hips betrayed her and ground up against him.

"Don't call me boy, I think I proved that to you last night." He mumbled against her flesh as his mouth found its way to her nipple, his tongue moving about it and being urged on by her arching her back giving him better access than before.

"Oh that you did love, that you did." Another little moan escaped her while he lavished her yet again.

Burying her hands in his hair she gripped tightly yet gently and guided his mouth back up away from her breasts to meet her own. Hungry kisses from the affectionate Saiya-jin engulfing her as she returned the same passion. He bit at her bottom lip, tugging lightly and earning yet another pleased little mewl that was suppressed by his mouth over hers. Despite her urgency to have him against her, she needed to pause the moment between them for his own good. Pulling away from the kiss she rested her forehead against his.

"Kakarot, I need to go feed, what I had last night is not enough to keep me going if this is the pace we'll be keeping up at." She gasped as he ignored her and laid kisses along her jawline, moving down toward her neck once again to find the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder.

He didn't remove his mouth from her flesh between kisses and bites "If I let you feed off me can I just keep you in bed like this?"

Chichi couldn't hold it back and moaned, her eyes rolling back at the idea of feeding from him and from him continuing to lustfully consume her body. For a moment she almost considered it, he smelled wonderfully and she was completely sure that he would taste just as wonderful, and not in the way that she had tasted him over and over this morning either.

"I don't know that I'll have enough control with you like this lover, and I don't want to hurt you." She wasn't going to lie to him about that, after all the bravado when he first showed up, he seemed to have forgotten just how dangerous she could be if her control slipped, even if only for a moment.

"If I let you feed from me does that change me?" He looked up at her to ask, his hands continuing to travel down her sides, to her hips, before his hands firmly cupped her backside.

"No, that would mean you feeding from me for that to happen, and I've to this point never changed anyone against their will." Running her fingers through his hair she smiled down at him, that was indeed a reassurance that she could give him. It was something that she was proud of and felt that it spoke to her civility and respect for others.

"You could do anything to me right now and I couldn't possibly refuse you." His mouth had gone back to her neck, torturing her while one of his hands slipped between her thighs to run his finger over the wetness there causing her to shudder under his touch.

As tempting as it was, and it was very tempting, she was not going to feed from him whether he wanted her to or not. He could beg her all day long and she would continue to refuse him time and time again. If and when the time came for that, she wanted to be sure that it was something that he was alright with, and not just because he was in a lust induced haze. The last thing she wanted was for there to be any bitterness regarding anything they had done, or to be accused of coercing him into it and controlling him through their bond.

"I'm not leaving you to go hunting, just let me ask my staff to prepare something for me. I'll only be gone a few minutes." Chichi kissed his forehead sweetly, letting her cool lips linger upon his warm flesh, reveling in the feeling of being pressed against him.

"Just have them bring it here then, I don't want you leaving this bed today." He had moved to pin her wrists above her head, smiling down at her and finding himself quite pleased with her slowly increasing frustration at his refusal to let her leave. Completely evidenced by the little pout that was starting to grace itself upon her lips.

"That I can do, but you'll still need to let me up to do so." Her eyebrow was arched at him as she watched his face. He was clearly too pleased with himself, and while she adored his cocky attitude she was terrified of losing her control with him.

Kakarot finally relented and rolled off of her petite form, receiving a chaste kiss to his lips and his forehead before she climbed out of bed stark naked. She padded across the floor, the remnants of the sun streaming in from the window and finding her bare behind as she made her way to the door. He was confident that she would grab her robe and then surprised when she grabbed absolutely nothing from her wardrobe and instead opened her door, naked as the day she was born. His eyes widened for a moment before a cocky smile plastered itself on his face, she stood naked in the doorway while he laid in her bed tangled in her silk sheets, the door wide enough for anyone to see what they had been doing all day.

It was almost like she was bragging, like she wanted the entire kingdom to know, and he adored it. Now if only she would get back to bed he would show her just how much he adored it. He could see the stunned look on the face of her handmaiden as she stood there taking the orders from her Queen, she mentioned the desire to cover her up and make her decent, but Chichi was having none of it. The guard standing off in the hallway was clearly less phased by the Queen's nudity as he remained at his post, his face not betraying a single emotion. Clearly they were much more poised to handle a woman of her caliber than he was. If he had been her guard, he would have been shamelessly flirting from the start. He supposed this was why Christian was so overbearing and jealous when it came to her, and he couldn't really blame him. Although moving forward if this foray continued he was going to have to back the hell off. The Saiya-jin male was not about to deal with competition, if this was where it was headed she would be his and he would be hers.

Chichi returned to the bed and straddled his lap, the sheet the only thing between their bare bodies. Running her fingers down from his chest to his stomach, letting her nails drag along lightly causing him to shiver underneath her, she inched the sheet that covered his lower half down, exposing the V of his muscular abs and hips.

"Do you always go to the door naked?" He asked in mock offense, the playful tone over riding the false jealousy.

"Not always, but I did want to show off a little. A woman has to stake her claim doesn't she?" She responded with a cocky smirk while biting her bottom lip.

Leaning forward she nipped at the curve of his neck before kissing his ear and taking it into her mouth, her tongue playing over his earlobe. He could feel the tip of her fang graze it and shuddered. He was really coming to like the feeling of her little bites, it gave him a rush. He could feel himself harden underneath her bottom and when she kissed back down his neck he could feel the smile dawning on her face as she pressed down against him.

The knock at her bedroom door caused her to roll off of him and tuck herself underneath the sheets as well, leaving him to cover his erection from the staff that entered. Pulling the sheet up over her breasts, she smiled warmly as the young looking blonde woman who entered her room, approaching the bedside she placed the relatively large flagon filled with what he assumed was blood down for her.

"Thank you Launch." Chichi was grateful to her, per usual. Launch was one of the handmaidens that she trusted the most and it had developed a bond between the two.

"Of course Your Grace." Turning toward the male in the bed she bowed her head out of respect "Mi'Lord."

The young blonde woman remarked to herself that she would bug her Queen about this later when the man wasn't around. She was the only handmaiden who intruded into the personal business of the Queen and was openly welcomed to do so. While the other handmaidens had been gossiping about the ruckus coming from the Queen's bedroom, she now knew first hand that it was not only true, but that it was indeed the Saiya-jin First Commander. Of course knowing this information, did not mean she intended on sharing it. Just as she hadn't shared her knowledge of Christian until Chichi herself had made it known. She shut the door behind her and made her way down the hallway, shaking her head as she went. Their Queen surely knew how to pick them.

Chichi picked up the goblet and sipped from it greedily, enjoying the taste sliding down her throat and the rush that went through her body. The sensation of being completely satiated filled her as she drank, returning the strength that had dwindled since her last feeding leaving her feeling completely rejuvenated. She downed the thick red liquid faster than Kakarot had imagined possible.

Kakarot watched her with a mixture of intrigue, confusion and a small amount of disgust on his face. Of course when that was read by the woman beside him, she rolled her eyes at him and placed the vessel down on the bedside table. Her reddened tongue darted out and licked a stray drop from her lips.

"If you find me so disgusting, you can leave you know?" She sulked at the perceived offense directed at her.

"No, I'm fine. But lord, do you breathe between gulps at all? The gross part is how quickly you put that all down, not what it was." Kakarot chuckled out, his eyebrow raised, he couldn't read her reaction and was taken by surprise a moment later.

"Pardon me for being hungry! I've ensured that you've been properly fed, I was hungry all day thanks to you! And no it's not human or Saiya-jin blood either." She pouted as she responded to a question that had not even been asked of her, leaving him blinking at her in confusion.

"I didn't a-" He wasn't given a chance to finish his sentence before she cut him off.

"You were thinking it though weren't you?! We have a specific set of livestock for feeding, we aren't barbarians!" Chichi responded her words clipped and her tone sharp, her arms crossing over her chest defensively.

"Is someone a little sensitive about this?" He couldn't quite figure out what had just happened, she had gone from being fine to near chewing his head off.

"No….. Possibly a little." Her voice dropped and she responded more calmly this time, it finally sinking in that it wasn't her and her dietary habits that bothered him at all.

Kakarot tucked the now pouting Queen under his arm and against his bare chest, kissing the top of her head. He wasn't sure how up until the night prior he had been able to judge her so harshly and hate her for her heritage. She was so much like the rest of the Saiya-jin women, she was prideful and a little bit arrogant, and with a temper to match. Although it seemed like so much else of her came from her other half. That otherworldly beauty was definitely one of them. While Saiya-jin women were beautiful, she lacked the battle hardened edges despite being capable of holding her own and being an adept fighter.

There was also a strong awareness that he was going to have to answer to his King when he saw him again. Disappearing for the better part of a day without providing his whereabouts was usually frowned upon. Although he had to admit that every second of this would be worth getting his ear chewed off for not following up with him. He was drawn away from his thoughts by the feeling of her fingers tracing patterns across his chest mindlessly while she stared toward the window and the sun preparing to set beneath the horizon.

They had spent the entire day in bed, albeit only a few hours had been had of sleep between them. And while he knew that he should be tired, he wanted to simply ravish her all over again, afterall he didn't know when that would happen again, if at all.

Chichi glanced up at him before bringing her hand to caress his cheek gently, a small smile playing on his face at the simple little touch. He found himself enraptured by every tiny little thing that she did. While he would have loved to blame the strange accidental bond between them, he couldn't help but feel that their connection was a little bit more serendipitous than some coincidence. Reaching down he took her chin between his fingers, leaning her face up to bring their lips together in the lightest of kisses.

Swinging her leg up and over his lap, she straddled him yet again, keeping the light playful kisses going, enjoying the feeling of their lips against one another. Without prompting she brought the heat back between them, pressing her breasts against his chest, her hands on either side of his head pressed against the headboard. Neither stopped to take a breath as he pulled her closer with one hand on her bottom and the other burying itself in her long inky hair. His tongue darted to taste her lips and she granted him that, meeting his in the fight for the dominance of it. He relented to her and allowed her control of the kiss, letting her delicate tongue dance around his while she pressed her hips down against him.

Leaving the kiss behind he stopped and let his eyes lock on hers as he pressed against her, grinding his hardness against the growing warmth between her legs. Chichi reached between them and rubbed the head of his manhood against the wetness causing him to groan out before she slid herself down onto him, his hips bucking up to press himself fully into her.

Chichi's own fingers found their way to her sweet spot while she continued to ride him, quickly rubbing in small circles, bringing herself closer to the edge. Her concentration faltered and she lost her rhythm, the tension beginning to coil within her. Kakarot's hands firmly remained on her hips keeping his pace within her, his eyes locked on her while she pleasured not only him but herself. His resolve began to crumble watching her and he felt that familiar feeling creep up on him. An idea came to him and he pulled her up and off of him receiving a whine in complaint, he guided her to lay beside him, her back to his chest. He pulled her body closer against his own and spooned her before sliding himself into her womanhood from behind.

Her hands gripped the sheets tightly, her eyes widening at the change in sensation, this position stroking her in all the right places. His hand found her hips again and used them to keep his momentum up while he trust into her, his free arm underneath her moved to cup her breast, kneading it and playing with it. His actions pressing her more closely back against him. Her murmurs of how close she was urged him on, picking up his speed, his hips thrust to meet hers over and over again, filling her completely. When her velveteen walls began to convulse around him, her body shuddering while she struggled to moan out his name, he managed to thrust into her warmth a few more times before his body gave in and he spilled himself within her with a loud groan.

Her usually controlled and infrequent breathing was heavy and her chest rose and fell while her back rested perfectly against his chest. Kakarot's large calloused hands gently rubbed up and down her stomach, tracing up between her breasts to her sternum and back down to her pelvis, causing her to arch her back against him with a little whimper. Her eyes closed at his gentle touch and she simply smiled and nuzzled down against the pillow.

A knock on the door drew her away from her moment of peace, her chest heaving from the deep breaths she took to calm her heated body. She wanted to scream at whoever it was to go away, to essentially fuck off, but that would be unladylike of her and she knew it. Kakarot buried his face into her neck and her hair, snuggled up behind her, still resting inside of her while nipping at her skin gently.

"Your Grace? It's Lady Bulma."

Now she definitely wanted to snarl out, her best friend did have a knack for terrible timing, and apparently this was no different from any other time, except this time it irritated her more than ever before. Chichi pushed away from him, hearing his groan at the loss of intimate contact between their previously melded bodies. She reached for the previously discarded silk nightgown on her floor and slipped it over her head before pulling the sheets back up to cover the rest of her naked body. Kakarot could get away with it a little easier than she could with her advisor present.

"Are you alone?" Chichi bit out in irritation, hoping that Bulma would get the hint and just go away.

"Just myself and the guards your highness." She chimed in cheery response to the annoyed woman on the other side of the door.

When the prolonged silence rang through the air, Bulma took that as a passive acceptance of her request and opened the bedroom door, Christian and Mikael flanking her. The door shutting behind them as the conversation took a more private note.

"Chichi, I needed to ensure that you were safe, it came to my attention that last night amongst the chaos there was no guard on duty for your room." Bulma's concern was an obvious and realistic one considering how the ball had ended.

"That was fine by me, as you can see, I was well taken care of last night." Chichi smirked and her eyes met Bulma's, she knew there was a lecture coming, but didn't care in the slightest. The desire to be oppositional bubbling to the surface.

"Oh for goddess sake Chichi, there's an attack, and you're up here taking the First Commander to bed! Could you have a little more discretion during a crisis?!" Bulma lectured her, while inside she was clearly rejoicing at her best friend's current choice in bedmates, she needed to be the one to look the part of the responsible advisor and try to keep her on track.

"Nope." A smirk was written onto her lips, her eyes daring Bulma to chastise her further.

"Stop being a smartass with me, this is serious." Bulma sternly said to her, her finger wagging in Chichi's direction.

"You're over reacting Bulma, besides what harm could possibly come to me with one of the most powerful of the Saiya-jin Commander's sharing my bed?" Chichi's voice was smooth and calm, her smirk never leaving her lips as she continued to antagonize the frustrated woman.

There was an audible growl reverberating from Christian as he stood behind Bulma. Chichi's head snapped in his direction, a terse glare boring into him like a knife. His form had tensed, his hand grasping the hilt of his sword tightly enough that he shook with barely controlled rage. It was not hidden in the least, which drew the ire of the already irate Queen.

"As for you, if you so have a problem with this, I can have you removed from my personal guard. You are my guard not my husband, not my father. Mind yourself before I do it for you! Or need I remind you of your place?" She practically snarled out at him, if she had been properly dressed she could not guarantee that she would not have gone at him and that her fangs would not have been snapping out at his throat in rage.

Her voice was quickly rising, as was her temper, she had had more than enough of Christian's jealous ways. If he could not act accordingly as her guard she would ensure that he could act accordingly elsewhere. But this insubordination would not be tolerated, and most certainly she would not tolerate him attempting to assert any type of dominance over she or the Saiya-jin she had chosen to take to her bed. He was either going to remember his place within her court, or she would force him into his place in such a way that he would never consider stepping out of line with her again.

Bulma turned to look at Christian, signaling with her hand for him to exit and wait in the hallway along with the other guard who had been with her. He was not helping the situation any, and she realized that she should not have had him accompany her in the first place. The door slammed shut earning an even larger scowl from the petite Queen still wrapped in her blankets.

"Chichi I understand your frustration, but please do act appropriately considering that we have guests among us. Besides King Vegeta has been inquiring about his General this afternoon." Bulma spoke to her as if speaking to a teenage daughter, her hand now resting on her hip as she fought the urge to full on lecture her in front of their guest.

"I'm going to be rude for once so do pardon me, but Bulma leave me be. I will be down for dinner with the guests shortly. As for King Vegeta, tell him that his General is safe and attending to some personal matters. I'm sure he can deduce what that means on his own." Kakarot almost spoke up to ask her not to, but he assumed that Vegeta full well knew where he had run off to at this point, he was going to have to answer for it whether it was now or later.

"We can discuss military matters with His Highness after dinner, now if you'll excuse me." That had clearly been the elephant in the room that Bulma wanted her to be present and ready for, but that was not going to happen at the moment.

Chichi waved her hand dismissively at her best friend, receiving a middle finger over her shoulder in response. A small laugh leaving her lips before she rolled over and tucked herself under Kakarot's arm, snuggling comfortably up to his chest, the rhythmic lull of his heartbeat soothing her temper and easing her back into peace.

"You should cut her a break sometimes, she's only trying to do what's good for you." He mumbled against her hair, kissing the top of her head warmly. While he did agree that he didn't want to be disturbed, he couldn't deny that Bulma had a point.

"Now don't you go siding with her, I swear I'll drain you dry mister. She's been nagging me for the last 185 years of my life, she can wait another hour to continue." Chichi argued back, snuggling herself closer against his flesh instead of moving away from him.

This time he didn't bother arguing her on it, he knew that it was a battle that no one could win with the stubborn royal. He had seen her tend to her duties as she needed to, it was time for her to get a small break. Besides if she were to go now, she would get dressed and he would no longer have her naked body pressed against his own, and that simply would not do as far as he was concerned. Scooting down farther, he snuggled them into the massive pile of blankets together, her tiny nightgown riding up in the process and leaving her bare stomach against him. He figured that if he only had an hour left with her he was at least going to enjoy it.

Rolling onto his side he pulled her flush against him, her nose now pressed against his nose garnering a little giggle from her. He stared into her eyes for a moment before nipping at her nose playfully, getting swatted for it in the process. It was getting harder and harder for him to convince himself that he was going to have to leave her when all was said and done.

"Can we just stay like this?" He wasn't sure where that had come from, but it had been a thought he had been holding back all day.

"Silly, we're going to have to get up and join the party at some point soon." Her voice was playful and sweet as she gently ran the back of her fingers over his cheek.

"No I mean, like this, us together, just us." There was no use in going back now, he had already opened his mouth. It was indeed something he wanted, and while part of him recognized it as unrealistic, he had never wanted anything quite as badly in his life. He needed to at least try.

Her eyes widened and he could hear her breath hitch in her throat as she stared back at him like a deer facing the hunter with his bow. The slow beat of her heart picked up a bit and her warmed cheeks flushed. While she had been enjoying this, she had most certainly not been thinking that far ahead. No one had ever asked her to think that far ahead in her entire life, and only one other person had asked her for such a commitment in her lifetime.

"Kakarot, I… I don't know. I don't know at all." Her calm usually cool voice stuttered out. The doe like look of surprise never leaving her beautiful delicate features.

"Just think about it, you don't have to tell me now. But before the King and I leave. Just think about it." Kakarot fought the urge to run from the topic, the idea of her rejecting him becoming a weight upon his chest. But it was out there now and all he needed to know at some point was her answer.

The soul crushing rejection he expected never came. And while her lack of an answer left a dull ache within him, he could accept it for now. She hadn't outright said no, which kept the searing hurt at bay. At least for now.

* * *

Chichi had glided down the hallway elegantly, dressed in a simply dark purple dress with fine black details embroidered into the neckline and along the edges of the wide bell sleeves that hid her slender arms. And he in his royal armor with the cape attached, the Saiya-jin royal emblem clear on the chest of his shining white breastplate. Kakarot followed alongside of her diligently as they discussed things of little consequence, small distractions to pass the time, things that were proper for the ears of other guests to hear. Despite the talk varying greatly from their conversations in the last 24 hours, he felt comfortable in her presence and in her home, even if she had left him hanging earlier.

Many a negative thing that Kakarot had expected never came, she never told him no or to get lost, and his King didn't lecture him when they finally joined the guests in the dining hall for their meal. In fact his King had seemed so distracted by the Queen's blue haired advisor that he had barely acknowledged his presence at all. The other guests' chit chatted amongst one another while Bulma and Vegeta's attention remained on one another, at times turning to bickering and insults which the other guests pretended not to hear, while Chichi and Kakarot simply snickered at their interactions.

Dinner passed by them quickly, Chichi downing glass after glass of wine in a sorry attempt to calm her now frazzled nerves. Kakarot had put her on the spot in a way that no one before him had, every man prior had allowed her to set the pace and not put expectations on her, but him, he was different. He had gone from hating her and insulting her to asking her to be with him in only the matter of just over a month. And while she enjoyed his company thoroughly, she was unsure if she could offer anyone that kind of commitment, especially considering the responsibilities that were on her shoulders.

As the other guests retired to spend time in other areas of the palace, it left only the four of them dawdling around following dinner. Bulma had escorted them to the Queen's sitting room and had the doors shut behind them for privacy, asking one of the guards to stand by and ensure that they were not interrupted. Chichi had unceremoniously plopped herself down on the chaise closest to the window, while Bulma and Vegeta took their spots on one of the larger couches around the coffee table in the center of the room. Kakarot hadn't taken a seat and instead lingered by the large picturesque windows, settling himself against the sill of one of them, glancing outside as their conversation began.

"After last night's fiasco the palace has all but been on lock down. It's clear that their purpose is to take out Chichi, especially with this new alliance formed. Two of our own were found killed out by one of the smaller gates, it was how they got in here." Bulma calmly recapped the information for Kakarot and Chichi since they had missed the entire day.

"Bulma, we need to be sending our own out to scout and begin figuring out where they are setting up their encampments. We have no idea what their numbers are like and I don't like that at all." Chichi responded to her tersely, it was time to get down to business and handle the nuisance that lingered outside of her palace walls endangering not only her own life but that of her people and the Saiya-jin kingdom as well. While before she had only managed to keep it at bay, the time had come to extinguish the problem for good.

"Already done, Mikael sent out two of his most reliable men this evening at dusk to begin the search." Bulma looked down into the tiny book in her lap where she had taken cryptic almost undecipherable notes to discuss with her Queen.

"Woman, It's best that Kakarot and I stay here to keep an eye on things, he can provide protection as needed and it allows us to strategize instead of letting either of our troops dive in blindly." Vegeta countered leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees while he watched Bulma's face for a reaction.

"If I may Your Grace" Chichi herself began. "It's probably best that you stay here anyway, I wouldn't want you making the trip back completely unguarded yourself either. We don't know but their plans could be to take out the ruling Monarchs, creating chaos in the land." She had considered all of the options up to this point. Either it was to take her out and dismantle her kingdom, or it was to simply take them all out, creating a free for all for this scourge to run free, or it was simply about revenge for an old vendetta. Which it was, she was not sure.

"We can handle ourselves just fine Woman. But we will be staying put so these heathens can't endanger either Kingdom." It was a prideful defensive response. He didn't need anyone to look after him like a child, even if she was his elder.

Chichi nodded in agreement, while she wanted to argue with him about his snarky attitude, she couldn't find it within herself. Instead she swirled the wine within her glass, wishing that it would do anything to dull her mind at the moment, cursing both her vampire and Saiya-jin heritage for giving her such a strong constitution.

"Then that's settled, we can begin planning attacks this week and at least determine who will be fighting on the front lines." She said confidently, the checklist writing itself in her head to have her armor refitted and tested prior to wearing it into a fight.

"Chichi, you can't…." Bulma's eyes widened, the intention had been clear in Chichi's voice. She simply couldn't allow her on the front lines on the battlefield. She needed their ruler safe and well protected.

"That's enough Bulma. We're done with this for now. You will not chastise me in front of our company, do you understand me?" Chichi's voice was terse and commanding, leaving little room for question. If she so deemed it appropriate to be out there fighting with her soldiers, and amongst the ranks of the Saiya-jin soldiers, she would. Chichi would not have Bulma treating her like a breakable china doll.

"Do forgive me Your Grace." Bulma curtsied to her Queen before exiting the room in a frustrated huff.

While Bulma had always met some form or another of defiance from her friend and Queen, she had yet in nearly 185 years to be spoken to as an underling, especially in front of others. It unnerved her seeing the cold calculating look in her friend's eyes. And she intended fully on bringing this up later with her in private, because as her Queen she had the right, but as her friend she had the right to know that it had indeed hurt her feelings. The younger vampire would indeed find herself in private audience later, as something was clearly wrong and Bulma could not place her finger upon it. For the moment she would let it go and put it to rest.

Vegeta watched the whole interaction with silent interest, his beautiful vixen had obviously been bothered by the whole thing, but he would tend to her later. This was his moment to get the other ruler alone to speak with her regarding family issues, or something of the sort.

"Kakarot, leave us. I would like to speak with her Majesty alone." Vegeta calmly provided the order to his General.

Kakarot looked shocked for only a moment, his urge to snarl and refuse to leave her side warring with his logic. He had been given an order by his King and it would not be proper for him to outright refuse him. Besides the fact that he had no claim over the ebony haired monarch. He found a twinge of jealousy pulling at him when he glanced over to her to find that she had not even looked up at him, not in reassurance or anything else. He nodded and silently left the room shutting the door securely behind him, he would wait outside and escort them both back to their rooms when they were finished, as was his duty.

"Your Grace, I wanted to talk to you about what you mentioned, about our family." He began, being as proper and appropriate as he could be. His temper had blown many an opportunity for him, and he didn't want this to be yet another.

"King Vegeta, please, just Chichi, I really don't want such formalities between us, especially outside of the public eye." A small smile graced her pink lips, her gaze unfocused on the night sky outside of the windows.

"Fine then, you do the same woman." Vegeta responded, no disrespect in his voice, speaking more quietly than he usually did.

"Alright, Vegeta, what is it that you wanted to know?" She didn't mean to sound annoyed, but exasperation seeped from her despite her efforts to push it down. In all reality she wasn't annoyed at all, at least not with him.

"Tell me about our family, about what happened to bring us to war." As the question left his lips she found herself somewhat surprised, she had almost known that would be what he would ask, and yet it still surprised her to hear someone aside from Bulma discuss with her such a topic.

Chichi laid back against the chaise, her legs crossed delicately at her ankles as she sipped at the glass of wine, a sigh spilled from her lips, her chest rising when she took in a deep breath. Her eyes finally fell upon him, meeting his dark determined gaze. Whether or not she wanted to talk about this, she owed this much to him, he deserved to know his heritage and their history just as much as she did. And she had to face the fact that she was the last relative left alive to tell their stories, the last ones with the history books to illustrate their family's past. Beginning was the biggest problem, she had no clue how to tell this without being long winded.

"Well it was a long long time ago, maybe 196 years ago. My mother met your Great Grandfather after his first wife passed away during childbirth, their courtship was very short from what she told me and what is in our history books. They fell for one another, and she quickly came to love him and of course your Grandfather as well. She loved your Grandfather as she would her own son. They were happy for many years together before my mother finally birthed me. But as my Father came to power within your kingdom, he became power hungry, he wanted both your kingdom and mine all to himself, he became awful and cruel to my mother physically, verbally and emotionally. It was something that your Grandfather himself saw as he got older, and took it into his own hands. He overthrew his own father and made an alliance with my mother. That alliance lasted almost a 100 years before your father broke it."

"Do you remember my Great Grandfather well?" Something about his own kin abusing a female irked him deeply, leaving an unsettled feeling in his chest.

"I do, in my younger years, he was kind and warm. He spent much of his time with me and with my mother being a father and a husband. After he changed, your Grandfather very much took his place in my heart. Not as my father, but as my companion and someone I could confide in. He treated me as his own sister. Even unto his own deathbed he saw me as the baby sister that needed his protection. Losing him broke my heart to pieces." Chichi stood from the chaise and made her way across the room, perching herself on the coffee table on front of him so that they could focus on one another. She could tell that this topic bothered him greatly, while she had long ago come to terms with the situation.

"Why did my Father break the alliance woman?" He needed to know, he had been told his whole life that they were vicious creatures who had only killed their family and their people, and up until this treaty he had fully believed every word that had been fed to him. It was sickening to him, he had been blinded by hatred. How could he have not seen it?

"I wish I could tell you, I don't think my mother even knew, and if she did, she was never able to tell me. Although I suspect that your Grandfather's wife was jealous of myself and my mother's relationship with your Grandfather and poisoned your father against us his entire life. After his death it was much easier to do so as he no longer had that balance to see us through. He stopped viewing us as family, and began treating us as enemies. That was another blow for me, as I had been there at his birth, I had helped the midwife deliver him. I loved your Grandmother and your father as much as they would allow me to Vegeta." Chichi took his hand in her own two as she spoke, her eyes met his, her chocolate ones locking onto his almost dark coal eyes, ignoring his obvious discomfort at her close proximity.

"My father's council carried on his work after his death, they allowed me to continue the war that he started. He tore these Kingdom's apart and for what?" The bitterness and anger rung through with his words, not only had he been misled, he had lost so many good men for a false cause as had she. Simply because his Grandmother had decided that she was going to play games with their family and their lives.

"Pride my dear nephew, pride. Don't worry I blame you not for your father's war. It began before you were conceived. You were born into that hatred. And I could only sit by and wish for the family that I loved to come back to me." The sadness that she wished to contain clearly made it to her eyes, she attempted to blink back the stinging feeling that she was strangely unfamiliar with, she wasn't about to show such strong emotion to anyone aside from Bulma.

"Well woman, you got your wish." Vegeta said matter of factly, she certainly had gotten her wish, and it had truly come about in the strangest of ways.

"That I did Vegeta, that I did. Although I do wish it had been sooner. I would have loved to see you grow into the man you are today. Besides, I would have spoiled you rotten!" She couldn't help but chuckle at the idea, she would have been the worst aunt in the world to have around, he would have only needed ask for something and she would have immediately given it to him without question.

"You can still do that to Tarble. The boy does not have a strong disposition, he would appreciate the doting attention!" Vegeta smiled despite his grumblings about his younger brother, the boy wasn't strong, but he was bright and unlike so many other Saiya-jins, he required attention to thrive.

For the first time in a very long time, Chichi smiled, a wide uninhibited smile that reached her eyes and her soul. She felt complete, like her mother's death had not been in vain. The cryptic messages her mother had spoken in her final days seemed to make sense to her now, and it all felt like it would really be ok.

"Good! All of us Ouji's can't have the same stubborn thick skulled nature can we?" Chichi laughed out loud jovially, apparently there was only one who truly stood out from the pack in their family, and she absolutely couldn't wait to meet her youngest great nephew.

"Watch who you call thick skulled woman." He bit back half heartedly, he knew she didn't mean any insult by it, and he wasn't actually insulted as he would usually be.

"Oh shush. Do you mind?" She stood before him, her hand extended. His silent nod was all she needed. Leaning in she gently placed a kiss on his cheek with a smile, fighting off laughter when he grumbled at her obvious affections and invasion of his personal space.

"Thank you Vegeta, for everything." Chichi's usually strong and demanding voice was soft and sweet, her eyes glittering with joy.

"We should get back to those two, that moron General of mine and your advisor would be lost without us." Vegeta stood from the couch following her lead, a slight blush still dancing on his cheeks. He was not used to affection, especially from female family members.

"That they would." Chichi placed her empty wine glass on the table and lead the way out of the room, Vegeta following closely behind her. Opening the doors into the hallway, she found Kakarot still standing there loyally keeping scrutinizing watch over the room containing the two royals.

For the second time that evening, she smiled, and it really did reach her eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: As you know I sure as all hell don't own any of this, or I would not be writing fan-fics. As always there will be a few characters who show up in my fic that do belong to me and I think you can figure out who that would be.

A/N: I feel like I spent every authors note apologizing for taking forever. This one I had no excuse on, it sat edited in my folder for the last bit since I updated. So I owe you guys. I'm working on the next chapter and hopefully will have that out shortly. Thanks for your patience with me! I look forward to your feedback and reviews! Read and Review! Thank you all. Much love!

Saiya-jin Princess Chichi

* * *

**When the Sun Sets**

**Chapter 10**

Over the next week and a half there had been many stolen kisses, recklessly running off to satiate the lust between them in places where they could have easily been caught, moments of eyes meeting, and hands brushing against one another in the presence of others. All of this happened despite the fact that she had still not given him an answer to the lingering question.

While Christian had attempted to get her alone on more than one occasion, it never came to fruition. For where Chichi was, Kakarot was never too far behind and vice versa. This left little room for anyone aside from him, Bulma and the King. The infuriated guard attempted to plead his case with her, sway her away from the Saiya-jin, after all he had been the same adversary who had invaded her bedroom to threaten her life only a month ago. Chichi would have none of it, and barely gave him her ear for the few words that he managed to spill.

Kakarot could hear the tiny footsteps of her riding boots against the floor as she left her bedroom, when she passed him, she didn't notice him ducked into the other corridor stealthily. He reached out, his arm going around her waist and taking her off her feet in one motion, her back pressed against the solid armor that covered the well-defined chest beneath it. An audible squeak escaped her lips, her eyes widened, but there was no panic, no alarm, no fear, only surprise. Placing her down she spun to face him and leaned up on tip toes to capture his lips. His heart racing in his chest faster when her hands found their way to him, his armor which was meant to protect him, hindering her hands from finding his flesh as she so greatly desired.

"You have got to stop doing that, what if it's not me one of these times." She breathed out between the heated kisses he spoiled her with.

"It always will be, I know." He replied with a chuckle.

Chichi sighed and leaned up to kiss him once again, her lips lingering upon his before backing away from him slowly with a coy smile on her pale face. She was well aware that they had a small council meeting that they both needed to be in attendance for, and while she would much rather be immature and run off to have fun, she knew that responsibility called her name, and she couldn't set it aside. Her petite hand clasped with his, their fingers intertwined, earning a squeeze from him. She began dragging him down the hallway, they needed to get all the way to the other wing for the meeting, if she could only keep his hands off of her long enough to do so.

They entered the small council chambers side by side, greeting an already tense situation. Bulma and Vegeta were standing toe to toe yelling at one another and calling each other names, for what reason Chichi didn't know, and couldn't begin to imagine. A smile settled on her face before she broke out laughing at the pair, her hearty laughter breaking the atmosphere between the two stubborn individuals. This had been the majority of their interactions, and it had escalated over the past two weeks, Chichi often finding them arguing heatedly. It was like they were made for one another. Bulma could handle him in a way that she doubted any other woman alive would be able to.

Making her way to the head of the table she situated herself in her plush seat at the head of the table, Kakarot sitting in the seat closest to her while they continued to stare at the befuddled pair who were clearly still seething at one another. They had business to address and the bickering would have to wait for another time.

"This morning I spoke with Mikael and he and the others have received some information on the whereabouts of the rogues. They have set up a small colony toward the edge of our territories. They seem to feel safe between the two nations where they are least expected to be." Chichi placed a pawn on the map in front of her where the reports had stated.

Vegeta leaned forward and looked it over nodding "It makes sense, they are able to attack Saiya-jins readily from there, and make it into the human villages as well. It also explains how they've stayed off your radar since your troops couldn't come close enough to our lands to locate them." His fist was closed, knuckles whitened and pressing into the tabletop.

Chichi looked up from the map and thought over strategy as Vegeta spoke. The thought had dawned upon her before, but she hadn't shared it with them yet, "If they used your kingdom to cover their tracks from us, that may not be the only encampment along our borders then. Chances are there are many more out there."

"We need better information before we move forward with an attack, I will send my soldiers out to scout." Vegeta bit out, a scowl clear on his face.

"No that's too dangerous. Let me send a few of my own. They can infiltrate, be a plant among them and report to us without rousing much suspicion. There is little structure amongst them, they won't notice if one person is gone for periods of time, as long as they come back under the guise that they have fed they won't ask questions." Chichi didn't meet anyone's eyes as she traced her fingers around the borders between the kingdom, specifically pointing at four different locations.

"These spots are far enough from your guard's patrols and stations, but up until recently were still too dangerous for my troops to get close enough to. That seems like the most likely spots for them. It's a sense of security, albeit a false one, especially now." Chichi took a few of the markers and placed them over the spots on the map. This information bringing a confident smirk to Vegeta's face, they finally had the upper hand against them.

"We'll send ours out to scout those sites and see if they can assimilate to the groups for information gathering." Bulma piped in, making notes for herself. They would be her direct orders to the troops moving into the field for information gathering while a select few would be given private direct orders to move forward with infiltration.

"This means that Kakarot and I will have to head back, give orders to our own units and prevent them from making any unnecessary attacks on your troops, and also to keep them out of the possible line of fire until we have a better strategy."

"That is the best move, I do agree." Bulma nodded and agreed with Vegeta, it would be a necessary thing to make sure that their forces were allied when the time came.

"We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning just before dawn."

"That will give you the protection of the daylight at least." Bulma stated, her eyes meeting Vegeta's. Yes she was worried about them leaving, but knew that he and Kakarot would be able to handle the trip alone.

Chichi could have sworn that her mouth and throat had gone dry on her, swallowing almost audibly at the sudden discomfort that she was feeling in her chest. The small buzzing starting in her ears making it feel as if they were stuffed with cotton. Her mind had stopped running over military strategies and simply spun in circles, her thoughts no longer cohesive enough to make sense of. Everything felt like it was a million miles away. Everything in her being had tightened on her like a taut string ready to snap, leaving her feeling tense and anxious. Tomorrow, they would be leaving tomorrow.

* * *

Kakarot had been baffled when Chichi had taken off abruptly after the small council meeting without saying another word to anyone in the room, she hadn't excused herself, nothing, just wordlessly disappeared, letting the heavy door slam shut behind her. It certainly was her behaving in a way he had never witnessed in the short time that he had known her. Despite wanting to go after her to check on her to assuage whatever was bothering her, he stayed behind to talk strategy and plans with both Vegeta and Bulma. Plans needed to be put into place for them to move forward and do so effectively. It was the only way that they would be able to protect both kingdoms in the future, especially when they made their first advancements on the rogue colonies. Most of all he wanted to be able to ensure her safety both within the kingdoms or on the battle field, it would be the only thing to bring him ease once it all began.

Besides he knew that he would see her at dinner that evening if he didn't get to see her now.

Except he didn't. Dinner had come and gone and Chichi had never shown up leaving him more than a little confused and frustrated with her strange behavior. When he had inquired with her staff they had simply stated that she had insisted that she didn't feel well and would prefer to dine alone in her bedroom this evening. He had quickly scarfed his dinner down, glossing over the conversations around the table between Bulma, Vegeta and some of the other nobles and members of the small council. The silverware clanking against the fine china and the wine glasses filled with either wine or something more viscous clinking against the table, it all grated on his nerves for some reason. This would be their last dinner together and he couldn't bring himself to focus without her presence by his side as it had been for nearly two weeks now. Clearly no one else at the table was too horribly troubled by her lack of attendance to something she normally attended to daily while company was present.

Kakarot excused himself in the most polite way that he could before hurrying away from the dining hall and toward her bedroom. If she wasn't feeling well, he would just go to her instead, even just being there for her would satiate his unrest at this moment. Although something just wasn't sitting well with him and he couldn't place it quite yet. It made sense to him as he made his way to her bedroom door and moved to open it and found it locked. He knocked at the door a couple of times but received no response from within despite seeing the candlelight flickering underneath the door.

Locating Launch relatively quickly he walked into the quarters that linked together the rooms that her handmaidens shared. As he stood in the doorway and cleared his throat all of the ladies looked up at him, some smiling, others bustling away, some whispering to one another about goddess knew what and he really didn't care either way. But Launch knew why he was here and stood from the chaise that she rested on and approached him.

"She doesn't want to see anyone." She stated before looking away from him.

"Does she not want to see anyone, or does she not want to see me?" He asked her, his voice softening slightly.

"I don't know, she didn't say, just told us that she wanted to be left alone tonight. She dismissed us all very early on today after she returned from the small council meeting." Launch looked up at him, she could sense his distress, but she knew about as much as he did, and could be of no help. Although she felt the hurt of the strong warrior before her, and know that there was nothing that she could do to make it any better.

"All I can tell you is that Bulma is usually in their joint study in the late evenings. She may be able to help you." She placed her hand on his upper arm and smiled at him sympathetically. Over the last two weeks she had grown to like the man that Queen kept in her company, she saw how happy he made her, only now she felt like the tides had changed and for what reason she did not know.

"Thank you Launch, if anything changes tonight, have someone find me please? I don't care what time it is." He sounded crestfallen, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't still try regardless of Chichi's avid avoidance of him.

Launch nodded her agreement and watched his back as he walked back out of their quarters and away. She could hear the other women gossiping amongst themselves and turned to chastise them. The relationship between the General and their Queen was none of their business and she was not about to sit here listening to them cluck like hens. The other women looked up to see Launch standing in front of them with her arms crossed and an ornery look on her face. They knew exactly what was coming their way and silence fell over them momentarily before the lecturing began.

* * *

Kakarot knocked on the heavy door to the study before entering, this was his last ditch effort on getting to see Chichi this evening and would be worth at least attempting. The study was dimly lit by candlelight, the flames flickering off the bookshelves and casting shadows throughout the room. He found Bulma comfortably seated on the couch beside Vegeta, wearing a simple full length satin nightgown, curled up with a blanket while they chatted amongst themselves, the smile clear as day across her pink lips and delicate features. His King looked relaxed and at ease in her presence, even being dressed down into his casual nightwear, it was clear that they had not intended on company this evening. As his King opened his mouth to chastise Kakarot for the intrusion Bulma shushed Vegeta from saying anything before she stood from the couch and approached him.

"Bulma can I speak with you alone?" He asked her in a hushed tone, the last thing he wanted was to be mocked by Vegeta over his concerns.

Her only response was a short nod and her motioning with her hand to follow him out onto the balcony through the glass doors, he could feel Vegeta staring at him intently, and it suddenly became evident that he had intruded on what was a rather intimate evening between the two. Bulma closed the glass doors behind them and turned to face him curiously, obviously less annoyed with his presence than her company for the evening.

"Bulma, she won't see me, she locked herself in her room and hasn't spoken to me. Everything was fine earlier. What's going on?" His question was filled with exasperation, his tone forced and his eyebrows furrowed.

"I kind of thought this would happen. She's probably sulking over the fact that you're leaving." Bulma sighed and looked up at someone she had come to see as a friend, it was the first time that Chichi's impulsive reactions had hurt someone in her life. Bulma just wished that she could ensure that this wouldn't go the same way the rest did.

"Why should that matter? I asked her if we could continue this, and she refused to answer. Clearly this was just a fling, so why would she sulk over my leaving?" His tone piqued, his eyes betraying the feelings that he so desperately didn't want to vocalize.

"Kakarot, have some patience with her, I know it's hard. But she does care. More than she's letting onto, I know that much. I have a feeling that she's just confused about all this."

"She's confused? I'm the one who has been waiting for two weeks for an answer from her. Why can't she just tell me that herself?" Kakarot practically shouted, speaking with his hands and drawing emphasis on his frustration with the petite Queen, he hadn't meant to take it out on Bulma in the least. It had just slipped.

"Honestly, she's awful with emotions. But be patient. I can promise that she'll come through, she'll give you an answer. She'll show up tomorrow morning to see you off, I know she will. Just trust me on this." Her hand grasped at his arm and she squeezed lightly, hoping that the small gesture would provide even a little comfort to him. Her eyes had not left his once as she responded to him.

"Sorry but I'm having a hard time believing you there." He grumbled out as he opened the doors to walk back through the study. It had not been his intention to be so abrupt, but it seemed like no one had a single answer for him this evening that would resolve the issue that was eating at him.

"Trust me!" Bulma yelled after him as she re-entered the study herself.

The door slammed shut behind him, echoing through the room off the high set bookshelves causing her to flinch. They were both acting like such children over their situation, if they both took the time to talk this wouldn't be an issue at all. Shaking her head, she made her way back over to the couch and plopped back down on the couch her head finding it's way to Vegeta's lap, his bare hand dragging through her long curly aquamarine locks.

"He'll survive." Vegeta stated gruffly. He couldn't empathize with his Commander on this at all, yet couldn't help but understand the frustration. After all he had overheard the whole conversation, despite the efforts to be discreet.

"He's upset, She's upset. It's all so stupid. It'll work out fine if he has some patience." Bulma sighed and shook her head, she knew her stubborn friend better than anyone, and this would pass in time, but pushing her would most certainly not be the solution. It had been something that she and the rest of the royal court had learned about her over and over again as she had grown up.

"Us Saiya-jins are not good with patience."

"I've noticed" She smirked up at him for the millionth time that day.

He leaned over and captured her lips, his free hand grasping at her waist as she laid sprawled out across the couch and his lap.

"I just know what I want and I take it."

"Shut up baka." She whispered against his lips before he delved back into kiss her once again.

* * *

Hiding. It was what she had been doing all afternoon and into the night. Before everyone had awoken to see them off she had snuck from her room and locked herself into the study. He would be looking for her in her room, and if she heard his voice she was going to crumble and fall apart, or so she felt. So she had curled herself up in the large armchair that she loved so much and took down one of her favorite books of fairy tales and mythological lore. It was meant to be a distraction, but it was failing her miserably. She would much rather be snuggled up to him telling him the stories that had enraptured her as a child and still held her heart even now as an adult. But she wasn't, and she couldn't.

The sun was finally getting ready to kiss the horizon of the sky.

Chichi could hear their luggage being loaded into the carriage that would travel back to their palace from the window in the library. She had tried to convince herself not to go to him, that it was going to be best this way. But the sense of unease had settled not only into her stomach, but her chest had tightened, and she felt like her throat would close on her any moment. The longer she fought it the worse she found the sensation. It was absolutely suffocating and overwhelming.

If she let him go, she was well aware that there was a chance she would never see him again, her allegiance was with his King, as would her meetings be. Between now and the time that she may see him again, would he find a suitable mate and forget about her completely? That thought tore her apart on the inside and she found a strange stinging sensation prickling at her eyes. She also realized that there was a worst case scenario, that despite all good intentions, things between them would not work out and would end with bitterness between them. Somehow the worst case scenario didn't actually seem like the worst, and it most certainly didn't draw the same discomfort from within her that the idea of the other outcomes had. A choked half sob escaped from her throat as her mind made itself up for her.

That was it, there was only one answer.

Bolting from the plush chair she had been curled up in, dropping her book to the floor with a loud thud, she was up and running, her shoes long since forgotten on the floor. Hurrying through the hallways she almost barreled into a number of staff and guards as she ran for the stairwell that would lead her out the main foyer and toward the gates where they were awaiting their departure. She jumped down a number of steps, skipping them all together, her skirts flowing behind her as she ran through the palace. With a final burst of speed she was out the main foyer, through the door she could see the King conversing with her Commander. Just when had be become her Commander?

Her feet stirred up the dirt as she ran forth, panic catching in her throat as the King took to the air, they were flying back not taking the carriage. She had less time than she had previously thought, and it was all due to her stubbornness.

"Kakarot! WAIT!" Her voice rang out, hopefully loud enough to catch his attention.

And catch his attention it did. Stopping midair, he was ready to pass over the palace wall, he looked behind him to find her form quickly approaching, her bare feet padding through the dirt and her long skirts dragging behind her as she crossed the open yard. Her wide eyes met his, her pink lips parting as she struggled to get the words out comprehensively, her mind was tumbling over itself. This was it. She hadn't even come close to reaching him yet when the answer came spilling forth. It didn't matter who heard her, she just needed to tell him.

"Kakarot, the answer is yes. Like this, we stay like this, us together, just like you said." Her voice was confident despite the quiver that had found its way in there, had she been a less composed woman she knew she would be shaking from her nerves. What if he had changed his mind since he had asked her?

Lowering himself back to the ground one foot landing in the dirt before the other as he stood facing her, the cape of his royal armor moving behind him with the light breeze that passed by them. He was stunned into silence, blinking a few times, he could only stare at her. He had prepared himself to accept that the answer was without saying so a resounding no. Now that he had the answer that he wanted, he couldn't bring himself to put the words together to tell her just how happy this made him.

"What does the kitty cat have your tongue?" She asked him softly.

She had taken the last of the tentative steps toward him and stared up at him with her eyes wide and glossy, her chest rising and falling as she attempted to calm herself, his silence unnerving her. It clicked with her that this had probably been the feeling he had had over the last few weeks, and she felt a pang of guilt for it. She had foolishly and selfishly left him waiting for her like, his feelings hadn't mattered one iota, she knew that she would have been livid if the roles had been reversed and almost couldn't blame him if he just walked away now.

"Shut up." Kakarot answered her clearly, a small smile playing on his face.

Pulling her forward into his arms he felt her attempt to nuzzle her face against him, his armor keeping her from him, but none the less she did. Her arms finding their way around his waist, her hands grasping at his back, holding him tight against her petite form. He bowed his head to plant a kiss on the top of her own where he stayed for a moment soaking in her scent and everything about her as they stood in the courtyard in front of those who had come to see them off.

He could feel all of the attention on them, and specifically knew Bulma was watching with a knowing smirk. She had warned him, had told him to be patient, that Chichi wouldn't let him down, she would show for him and she stated it with such certainty. He had doubted her confidence in the younger woman. Now here she was wrapped in his arms, and the only thing he knew was that he could not be more grateful that he had been wrong. Although this meant that he would never hear the end of the 'I told you so's that would be coming his way upon their next meeting.

"I know you can't stay but-"

"I'll see you in a fortnight. You and Bulma will be coming to address our small council."

"I don't und-" Her sentence was abruptly cut off.

"It was discussed amongst us after you stormed away the other day. I never got the chance to tell you, with you avoiding me and all. Although we have things to handle on our end before your arrival."

"Oh." Suddenly she couldn't help but feel foolish. She had made many an assumption, and for all the ones she had made, each was proving to be incorrect.

"Now whose tongue does the cat have hmm? Did you really think I would just leave forever?" He asked her coyly as he stared down at the top of her head, waiting for her to meet his eyes once again.

Chichi finally looked up at him and blinked for lack of a better response. Was she just supposed to tell him that she had been panicking over this for the last day? There was no way she was going to shatter what was left of her pride like that, it had taken enough damage as it was, and that was more than enough for one day for her.

Of course what he didn't tell her was that he needed the entire two weeks to get his troops in line, ensure that there would be no attacks on the Queen or her adviser while under their protection. They had work to do and Vegeta had to lay the groundwork to make this alliance work properly within their kingdom as it had been arranged within the vampire kingdom.


End file.
